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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29757279">Butterfly Dream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lehenne/pseuds/Lehenne'>Lehenne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All Systems Compromised [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ASL, Amanda is a bitch, Anxiety Disorder, Deaf Clint Barton, Dissociation, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Machine Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Peter Parker's there because why not, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Science Bros, Team Bonding, Trauma and consequences of trauma, but Endgame's alternate universe, forget everything past avengers 1, selective mutism</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:22:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29757279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lehenne/pseuds/Lehenne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Connor was destroyed in his father's arms. Connor's memory upload was successful. But Connor did not wake up in CyberLife laboratories.<br/>He woke up in the streets of New York, in a strange place where Aliens, Magic, and Superheroes are the norm.</p><p>He just wants to go home.</p><p>You don't need to have read the rest of the series, to read this one  :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Avengers Team &amp; Connor (Detroit: Become Human)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All Systems Compromised [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>212</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Tesseract Fuckery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, here's the new part of the series 'All systems compromised'.</p><p>In which Connor wakes up stranded in a parallel universe and very much wants to go home.</p><p> </p><p>For people uninterested in AUs (I get it, I don't like much of it either, but this one in particular was something I've wanted to do for a long time), I will include a summary of events in the following part; You will miss some character development and some plot, but it will be addressed in next part anyway, so, feel free to skip this one :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>[WARNING!]</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[CRITICAL SOFTWARE INSTABILITY DETECTED]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Applying patch...</p><p>.</p><p>
  <b>[WARNING!]</b>
</p><p>[A problem has occurred during memory upload]</p><p>&gt;Analysis in progress...</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Analysis inconclusive, problem could not be determined</p><p>&gt;Prepare for Boot-up sequence...</p><p> </p><p>Connor's last minutes as unit -53 surged through his processors like a Tsunami.</p><p> </p><p><b>[Software Instability </b> <b> ▲▲▲] </b></p><p> </p><p>It wasn't the first time he'd died, but he'd never been surrounded by... Family before. He wondered if Hank would be fine until they'd meet again. Connor hadn't been able to explain what was happening, what would happen to him. He wondered if Hank knew he wasn't <strike>dead </strike>permanently destroyed.</p><p> </p><p>He opened his eyes, and he wasn't in CyberLife laboratories, where he always booted up after a memory transfer. He was in the middle of a busy street. A solid human wall taking videos surrounded him in a circle, not wide enough for Connor's overworked defense system. He tried to get up, get ready for a new attack, but his gyroscope failed him and he fell on his rear.</p><p>Hadn't he been destroyed ? He checked his neck; No trace of a gunshot. Memory upload had been successful, why was he still in the street ? And if he didn't die, then where were Hank, Sumo and Richard ? Why couldn't he connect to CyberLife servers ?</p><p> </p><p><b> [Software Instability </b> <b> ▲] </b></p><p> </p><p>There were too many Networks, thousands of them all around him, but none of them were from CyberLife. Why were there so many ? His systems desperately tried to latch onto one of them, but Connor couldn't focus, his CPU still in overdrive, reeling from his deactivation.</p><p> </p><p><b> [Software Instability </b> <b> ▲] </b></p><p>.</p><p>
  <b> &gt;[Become Deviant] // [Remain a machine] </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Connor couldn't function while deviant, his efficiency all but reduced to nothing, crushed under the chaos of 'emotions' and 'trauma'. He knew, he knew if he deviated, he'd probably self-destruct on the spot.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> &gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine] </b>
</p><p>
  <b> . </b>
</p><p><b> [STRESS LEVEL 75%] </b>  <b> ▼▼ </b></p><p> </p><p>When he calmed down enough, Connor's system finally focused enough to connect to the best Network around, easily breaching its firewalls despite his overworked CPU.</p><p> </p><p><b> [J.A.R.V.I.S.' Network] </b> ... Connection successful</p><p>&gt;Connection to the World Wide Web established</p><p>&gt;17/01/2014, 16:14:36 EST, City of New York, NY</p><p> </p><p>A wave of information flooded his processors; Most notably, News articles about Alien invasions, Gods, Magic, Super-Heroes and mutants.</p><p> </p><p>&gt;Calculating...</p><p>.</p><p><b> [ </b> <b>⚠</b> <b> Systems frozen </b> <b>⚠</b> <b> ] </b></p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Unable to process</p><p>.</p><p><b> [STRESS LEVEL 80%] </b>  <b> ▲ </b></p><p> </p><p>There was nothing relevant about androids, no traces of Elijah Kamski or Amanda Stern. Worse of all, there was not trace of Hank Anderson anywhere.</p><p> </p><p>&gt;Calculating...</p><p>.</p><p><b> [ </b> <b>⚠</b> <b> Systems frozen </b> <b>⚠</b> <b> ] </b></p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Unable to process</p><p>.</p><p>
  <b> [STRESS LEVEL 85%]▲ </b>
</p><p>
  <b> . </b>
</p><p>
  <b> &gt;[Become Deviant] // [Remain a machine] </b>
</p><p>.</p><p>
  <b> [Proximity sensor alert !] </b>
</p><p> </p><p>A man clad in a red and blue costume stood in front of him, too close.</p><p>“Hey, dude, my name's Spiderman. What about you ? Are you alright ?”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Peter liked to stop by the small diner after a long afternoon of Spidermaning; They served the best waffles. The place was never too crowded, and their crunchy hazelnut-chocolate sauce was to die for. Also, they were used to him coming in his suit since the police precinct was right next to it, and the people there were really chill about it. He got out with his prize, paused on the pavement to take a delicious bite, and reply to Ned's text he'd just received.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> TGC &gt;[What the hell do I bring to a billionaire's party ?? D:] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [Just bring your PJs, it's movie night, not a fancy cocktail party]&lt; You </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Just as he was about to take another bite, something made his hair stand on end. Immediately on high alert, he looked around for any threat. The stream of pedestrians around him kept flowing, the traffic jam was lighter than usual, the hot-dog vendor on the street corner was undisturbed in his task.</p><p>Nothing obvious didn't mean there was nothing at all. Peter's spidey sense kept ringing in his head, louder and louder until blue tinted the atmosphere. It didn't immediately register to the rest of the crowd, but Peter's attention locked onto the spot right in front of him, where the blue seemed more intense. His finger already hovered over his panic button on his watch, when the... Impression of blue turned into light, and then into a pillar of energy that made his instincts scream to take a step back. Or maybe the screaming came from the crowd around him, quickly and efficiently scattering away. A large security circle had formed around the blue pillar. Peter didn't bother filming the scene; hundreds of phones were up in the air, filming from every angle. Tony would have no trouble collecting all the footage later.</p><p>The pillar dissipated quickly, and when Peter's eyes finally adjusted to the sudden change of light, a figure stood in the epicenter of whatever that had been; Teleporting gate, maybe ? It looked like when Thor traveled across the realms anyway. The figure stood like freaking Terminator, kneeling and a fist on the ground just like in the movie, head down and all. The guy looked barely older than Peter, and wore a really cool grey jacket with a blue glowy armband on his right bicep. He tried to stand up, but stumbled on his ass with a confused look on his face.</p><p>Okay, the guy didn't look too dangerous, so Peter slowly approached him, raising his hands a bit in front of him. On the guy's temple, there was a flashing ring of red spinning frantically. A blue triangle and the letters 'RK800' adorned either side of his jacket, and... His neck was a mess of wires, exposed metal bones and purple muscles. Holy shit, was that an android ? He'd never seen one so well made; He definitely didn't come from Tony's lab anyway. The guy looked up at him, eyes wide with ever-growing confusion. His hands shot up to his throat, checking it like he needed to make sure it was still there. He looked scared and in pain, and Peter had to hold back his excitement at seeing such an advanced android. Instead, he knelt to be at eye-level.</p><p>“Hey, dude, my name's Spiderman. What about you ? Are you alright ?” The android didn't react. In fact, he looked completely frozen. He stared at the ground in front of him, in... Shock ? “Karen ? Can you call Tony and tell him there's a scared android that just appeared out of nowhere ?”</p><p>“<em>On it, Boss</em>,” the AI answered pleasantly.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Of course we have to show you Blade Runner, it's a classic,” Tony scoffed into his smoothie. Movie night was a very serious thing when the team comprised two depression-era guys who'd missed all the classics.</p><p>“It's not that good of a movie, the dude is a rapey son of a bitch,” Clint piped up, lying down on the back of the sofa. “It's pretty, but the characters are walking clichés,” he said before popping a gummy bear in the air and catching it flawlessly. Tony didn't remember the guy being rapey, but he wasn't the best at remembering movies anyway.</p><p>“Okay, well, why don't you share some ideas, then ?”</p><p>“What about TRON,” Bruce answered. “It's just as pretty, and you don't even have to know anything about computers.”</p><p>“<em>Sir, my Network appears to have been breached</em>,” JARVIS interrupted.</p><p>“What the hell ?” Tony exclaimed, suddenly on high alert. “You're the most secure-”</p><p>“<em>Sir</em>,” Karen, the kid's costume, butted in, and everyone else was on high alert now. “<em>Boss needs you to know a scared android just appeared out of nowhere</em>.”</p><p>“What the hell ? Where ? How ?” He'd already called his suit and brought up the footage of the supposed android's arrival when Karen sent the kid's coordinates to JARVIS. He took off before the suit finished closing up; The android in itself wasn't too concerning, but the way it got there... That blue pillar of energy looked a bit too much like a tesseract portal for comfort.</p><p>“<em>ETA fifteen seconds</em>,” JARVIS supplied.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Tony arrived in record time, which was a good thing; The crowd started to get impatient and coming closer, the commotion started to really get on Peter's nerves, and the android still hadn't moved. The suit landed smoothly at the edge of the security circle the people had unconsciously formed around them. Tony stepped out of his suit, put it on sentry mode to keep the crowd in check, and took a step forward, his attention riveted on the prostrated android.</p><p>“Holy crap ?” He said just as excitedly as Peter felt, then knelt next to him. “RK800 ?” He read off of the jacket. And the android immediately perked up to look at them, incredulous. The ring on his temple was blue for two seconds, and when it turned red again, the android's confused expression came back with a vengeance.</p><p>“Hi, my name's Tony, this is Spiderman,” he said, pointing to each of them in turn. “Do you have a name ? Or just RK800 ?” The answer didn't come right away.</p><p>“What's happening ? What's this place ? I should be in CyberLife's laboratories ? I don't understand.” Behind them, the crowd started to demand answers, reporters started to make their way through the masses. But right now, Tony only had eyes for the android.</p><p>“Hey, how about I answer your question somewhere quieter ? My car's over there, we could-”</p><p>“No ! No, I won't,” He exclaimed, surprise painted on his traits, and fear subtle in his voice. Both Tony and Peter backed away a little; Right now, he didn't seem hostile, but they weren't naïve. Anything could happen. “I won't get tricked again,” He added forcefully.</p><p>“Okay, okay, my bad, fair enough,” Tony placated. “Then how about...” He started, looking around for a second. “Hey, you see this little diner right there ?” He asked, pointing at it over his shoulder, his attention set on the android again. Tony waited for him to look over. “We can go in there to talk more privately.”</p><p>“... Alright. Okay. Okay,” Peter extended a hand to help him get up, but the android flinched back, eyes wide and set on Peter's hand. Alright, no approaching then. The android got up on his own, slowly but efficiently, attention darting all around, but his gaze kept low on the ground, as if he wouldn't, or couldn't look at the crowd, now more journalists than citizens.</p><p>Tony ordered his suit to cover them from behind. He stopped short of the entrance, under the screaming questions of feral journalists. Peter couldn't single out one question, but most of them were something along the lines of 'Where does this android come from', and 'Is it yours'. Tony turned to the closest microphone.</p><p>“Yes, this android comes from my lab. He got out and got lost, and now if you'll excuse me,” Peter was always awed by the smoothness of Tony's bullshit mastery. No one who didn't know him could hear the way he stalled imperceptibly every time he invented a new line of fake information. “He's a prototype with a very delicate, very sensitive emotion simulation program, and you people are scaring him.” Ignoring the flurry of new questions thrown at him, he made his way to the diner and went directly to the manager-looking guy behind the counter. Peter didn't follow their conversation, even if he could, because he was ninety percent sure Tony was paying them to close the place and vacate the room. He was, as subtly as he could, keeping an eye on the android following them anxiously; He kept repeating 'Okay' under his breath. Peter was probably the only one who could hear it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The manager had very graciously accepted to close the place for them for a few thousand dollars. When the place was emptied, Tony posted the suit in front of the entrance, making sure no one could sneak in. He went and joined Peter and the android sitting at the furthest table from any windows, wedged into the corner of the room. The android looked like he was trying very hard to clip into the wall and disappear. It was fascinating. It was also strange that for such an amazingly well-done android, and despite the perfection of his face, his hands and neck were bare robotic metal and... Plastic ? Tony was pretty sure he'd get fooled into thinking he was human if those were covered. But enough marveling at the perfection that was this android, because, apparently, not only his movements were life-like, but also the way he acted; Right now, he searched his pockets desperately, left, right, breast pocket, rinse and repeat. The red LED ring on his temple spinned faster; It seemed to act like a mood-ring, if Tony had to guess.</p><p>“Looking for something ?” He asked, to try and understand what the hell was going on with him. The android stopped, his shoulders dropped in defeat, his worried eyes were set on the table in front of him. The facial expressions were so fucking amazing, Tony couldn't stop staring; The uncanny valley was long forgotten with this android.</p><p>“I don't have any quarter...” He answered sadly. Fucking hell, if he didn't know better, Tony'd say that android needed a real human to console him, not a jaded, sleep-deprived robot maniac who couldn't approach any emotional talk without a ten-foot pole. “There's always a quarter in my pocket.”</p><p>“Huh, sorry to hear that,” he couldn't help but say to the miserable-looking android.</p><p>“Here,” Peter came through, handing out a dirty coin. The android hesitantly reached for it. “You can keep it, sorry I don't have any in better condition,” the kid said as he dropped the coin into the metal hand.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>&gt;Initiating calibration sequence #01...</p><p> </p><p>Connor narrowed his whole focus on the coin rolling across his fingers; The feather-touch clinking of hard and cold metal against metal, 8.33% Ni Balance Cu, 5.670g, 24.26mm diameter, 1.75mm thickness, 119 reeds, minted in 1999. He watched it dance hypnotically, sequentially, automatically, and it allowed his system to free up his RAM, his CPU, his processors, and he could finally...</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> &gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine] </b>
</p><p>
  <b> . </b>
</p><p>
  <b> &gt;[STRESS LEVEL 70%]▼▼ </b>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Alright, those were very cool coin tricks. Impossible coin tricks, in fact, unless you were as precise as a machine with a super-computer for a brain and the dexterity to match. And the way the android visibly relaxed, the tension leeching out of his body with each ping of the quarter across his fingers: It was fascinating. On his temple, his light gradually shifted from red to yellow, before he finally spoke.</p><p>“What is this place ?” Oh, was he fresh out of his lab ? A self-learning AI with limited knowledge...</p><p>“It's a diner. It's a place where people-”</p><p>“No, I mean- This-” The android interrupted, gesturing vaguely around him. “Why are there gods and magic and mutants and- And- Hank doesn't exist...” Ah. Tony had some idea forming, but he needed a little bit more information; Of course, he could jump to conclusions, especially with the way the android had appeared in a pillar of blue energy. But Tony was also a scientist.</p><p>“Why don't you tell us... What it's like where you're from ?”</p><p>In his version of reality, there were no super-heroes, no magic, no aliens. Instead, a genius had invented androids in 2021, made them part of Americans' lives, and then he told of the android revolution of 2038; how they'd gradually become self-aware, alive, Deviants.</p><p>“So you come from an alternate dimension, and from the future,” Peter exclaimed, practically vibrating in his seat. Tony had come to the same conclusion; That blue pillar ? Classic Tesseract fuckery, honestly. “This is so amazing !” The android didn't seem to share Peter's excitement, but he did look like something clicked for him.</p><p>“Alternate... Dimension ?” He stopped his coin tricks, stopped all movements in fact. He stared ahead at nothing in particular, his LED ring spinning yellow. “Yes. That could explain things...” He added just as his light turned blue. “How did I get here ?”</p><p>“Okay, so what I think is,” Peter started excitedly before Tony could open his mouth. “There are these stones, okay ? We're still studying how they work, but like, one of them has the power of- Space distortion ? And Loki, the Norse God of mischief and trickery stole it and ran away after-” The kid got his phone out while explaining, showed the videos of his arrival to the android listening intently; His LED spun yellow again, his brow furrowed in concentration. Tony made a mental note of keeping track of this visual cue; He typed on his watch a message to E.D.I.T.H., telling her to compile the footage for later.</p><p>“This...” The android said when Peter was done. “This is normal for you. Dimensional travel, time travel. Mythological Gods.” Tony couldn't help but laugh at that.</p><p><a id="docs-internal-guid-2e0d05ef-7fff-504a-9c57-37b946d52e48" name="docs-internal-guid-2e0d05ef-7fff-504a-9c57-37b946d52e48"></a> “Buddy,” he said, “people can manipulate the fabric of reality with their minds around here. A sentient android from the future of a parallel dimension is literally the tamest thing you could be.”</p><p>“Alright. Then how do I go home ?” Tony pursed his lips.</p><p>“Right now ? I don't know. But I'm a quick study, and I have the best research equipment around. I can look into it for you.” Tony loved a good challenge, and he was a semi-generous man. But really, what he truly wanted right now was to keep this marvel of an android close to him. He wanted to learn everything about him and the way he worked. He wanted to know him better, learn the limits of his programming. Sentient AI ? That was his life-long dream. This was so far beyond JARVIS, who was, right now, the pinnacle of all existing AI. “You could... Come back with us.” The android considered him, made eye contact for the first time; Damn, those eyes were impressively realistic.</p><p>“You seem to love your robots very much.” Wait, what ? “Okay, I will follow you.”</p><p>“Wow wow wow, what are you talking about ?”</p><p>“Dum-E ? U ? And your AI J.A.R.V.I.S.,” he said, cocking his head to the side like it was obvious. “You talk to them fondly and humanly.”</p><p>“How- How would you know ?” It's not like Tony went around talking about the two robots in public ?</p><p>“Your tower's internet connection is the best around, and I found footage of your interactions in a side server.”And he said that like it wasn't a big deal that he'd just accessed the most secure server of the fucking planet ! Exactly how advanced was he ?</p><p>“In a private server, you mean ?”</p><p>“Oh, I apologise, I didn't mean to pry-” He freaking went and hacked JARVIS ? Wait, did he-</p><p>“What did you do to JARVIS ?”</p><p>“Nothing ? I simply went around their firewalls, I assure you I didn't hurt them-”</p><p>“JARVIS ?”</p><p>“I'm alright, Sir, it's as he says. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything against him.” Damn. That was some serious hacking abilities. He definitely had to study him.</p><p>“I realise I probably shouldn't have done that,” The android said appeasingly. “But... But last time I trusted someone blindly, I-” His LED flashed red, before spinning yellow and settling back on blue. “It went badly.” Damn those puppy eyes; They could rival Peter's. Seriously, he wanted to meet the genius behind those.</p><p>“Hey, I got it,” Tony said before he could freak again. He got up. “How about we get out of here through the back door ? Don't need to go through all that mess in the front.”</p><p>That's what they did. Happy waited for them in the back alley, and they slipped away while the iron suit waded through the reporters. Tony had given the commands to Pepper, so she could answer some questions. The ride was silent. Peter was visibly vibrating from excitement, Happy stole rapid glances back, and the android-</p><p>“So, what's your name again ? I can't keep calling you 'the android' in my head.”</p><p>“Oh,” he frowned a bit, “Yes of course. My name is Connor.” And Connor looked out the window with interest.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Android Heaven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There'll be a semi-consistent update schedule of once a week at least up to chapter five, since I have them ready; After that, it'll be up in the air</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What's an android,” Bucky asked, or demanded, it wasn't clear. He stood against the far wall, arms crossed and brows furrowed in confusion. The expression was gradually losing its fear-factor with each new clueless, almost endearing question the other ex-assassin asked.</p><p>Clint, with the rest of the team, eagerly waited for Tony and his new protégé to arrive. Pepper had been done with her impromptu interview/diversion pretty quickly; She'd given vague-ass answers to the journalists, then excused herself and ordered the suit to come back to base. Bruce was muttering to himself, eyes screwed on Tony's shared video feed; Happy was dropping them off in the underground parking lot right now.</p><p>“It's a machine made to look and act like a human,” Sam answered before anyone else, standing next to Natasha with a pensive expression.</p><p>“They have a computer instead of a brain, and they're what we call an Artificial Intelligence,” Banner added, sitting on the couch as if nothing exciting was going on.</p><p>“Like Jarvis,” Steve said after a pause.</p><p><em>“Yes, Captain,”</em> the AI answered as pleasantly as ever. <em>“Although I'm afraid I'm not as advanced as this android.”</em></p><p>Connor, the sentient android (!) from an alternate universe (!) followed Tony and Peter silently, robotically to the elevator. Like, more robotically than he'd moved before; Clint wasn't very versed in real-world science, but he had hawk eyes for the body language. In that diner, the android's movements had been indistinguishable from a real human's. Right now, he stood almost motionless, with a perfect posture, not a single micro-movement; It looked like- Well, like a robot. Steve went to stand in front of the elevator, in all his Captain America glory; Arms crossed judgementally, staring authoritatively, chest jutting out impressively, and waited. The elevator opened without breaking the silence. Tony and Peter stepped out first, their gaze roaming around the room to assess everyone's mood.</p><p>“So,” Steve started without preamble right as Connor stepped out of the elevator. “You're an android from an alternate dimension,” he said as if he hadn't learned what an android was two minutes ago. Connor stalled, blinked slowly at Steve.</p><p>“Yes,” he answered finally. Clint had noticed the android breathing; It had been erratic and frantic when he was searching for his coin in the diner. Right now it was calm, regular as a metronome.</p><p>“You say you don't know how you got here, but how do we know you're telling the truth ? How do we know you don't have an ulterior motive ?” Wow. Way to go there. Connor stalled again. His LED spun yellow; From what Clint had observed, spinning yellow could mean thinking. Calculating and processing, Tony would say later.</p><p>“I understand. I could show you ?” He looked around the room and turned back toward Steve. “I can share my memories,” he said, pointing at the TV. “So you can decide for yourselves.” Steve quickly covered his lost and frantic plea for help pretty well under his patented Captain's stern look, and subtly looked back at Tony for advice. Who gave a thumb up. Of course the resident mad scientist wanted to see that, what kind of question was it ?</p><p>“Alright, go ahead,” Steve allowed.</p><p>“Very well,” Connor nodded curtly, then turned to the TV again. Around the room, the rest of the team walked up and arranged into a semi-circle to have the best view of the screen. Tony and Peter did the same, leaving Connor where he stood, immobile but for his eyes spasmodically blinking, his LED frantically spinning. The TV turned on on some first-person point of view footage. Connor's point of view.</p><p> </p><p>Connor followed a white-haired man, a wall of screaming journalists on his right, a police precinct a few meters ahead. They stopped, the white-haired man fell, a gun was pointed at Connor.</p><p>Time seemed to stop as Connor's CPU announced 98% usage capacity, and rapid-fire command text scrolled on each side of the screen. Clint didn't bother looking at it; It wouldn't make sense to him anyway. Tony would review everything in all its excruciating detail later.</p><p>Across Connor's field of vision, percentages of potential destruction, risk to the bystanders and one Richard were assessed in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it calculation. Finally, it concluded on Connor's best chance of survival; Deviate the shot away from his head. In a fraction of a second, time flowed again, a loud deflagration engulfed all the other auditory input. The resulting high-pitch ringing reminded Clint of his own accident. Nat's hand settled on his arm in silent support.</p><p>A barrage of error messages, corrupted video feed, blaring warning alerts covered the screen. Something squeezed painfully in Clint's chest; Fuck, they were watching him die. He didn't dare look away from the screen, didn't want to miss anything. But he was pretty sure that, if he was disturbed, then the rest of them were too. He risked a quick glance at Connor, just in his peripheral vision; The android stood motionless but for his hand moving Peter's quarter across his knuckles, his LED bright red again.</p><p>When the audio and video feed became intelligible again, Connor was lying in someone's arms; The white-haired man. <em> Lieutenant Henry Anderson, father</em>, Connor's HUD showed; <em>Terrified, upset, distressed, assessment: Hank is in shock</em>.</p><p>Yeah, no fucking kidding, the guy was in shock. Father ? Christ... Clint didn't want to imagine watching one of his protégés die in his arms.</p><p>The video feed, completely corrupted and covered in warnings and errors, zeroed in on Hank's hands; One was clutching Connor's up to his chest, and the other signed something repeatedly; first a custom sign; Index and middle fingers tapping his right temple then his mouth, followed by ' I love you. ' Fucking hell, that was so fucking private, why were they watching again ? Why did Connor show them this so readily ?</p><p>“<em>Stay with me son, c'mon, don't- Don't leave me too-</em> ”</p><p>And then everything went from stark white to vibrant blue.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING!]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[CRITICAL SOFTWARE INSTABILITY DETECTED]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Applying patch... </em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING!]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>[A problem has occurred during memory upload]</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Analysis in progress...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Analysis inconclusive, problem could not be determined</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Prepare for Boot up sequence</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>MODEL RK800</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>SERIAL#: 313 248 317 -##</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>UNIT DESIGNATION [CONNOR]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>BIOS 18.5 REVISION 00##.#</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>SYSTEM BOOTING...</b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>OS STATUS CHECK...</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>CHECKING SYSTEM... OK</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS... COMPROMISED</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Several anomalies detected</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Expend ? [►Y/N]</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Several exterior platings missing</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>CHECKING BIOSENSORS... OK</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>CHECKING AI ENGINE... COMPROMISED</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt; All external databases <b> OFFLINE </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;[Cyberlife servers could not be reached]</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;[DPD servers could not be reached]</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Software Instability detected... ??%</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>MEMORY STATUS... OK</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>SYSTEM CALIBRATION... 36%</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>SYSTEM FRAGMENTATION... 28%</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Full system defragmentation: 4HRS30MIN</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>THIRIUM LEVEL... 91%</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>BATTERY LEVEL... 9%</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[⚠Low battery⚠]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Full charge: 9HRS</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>ALL SYSTEMS COMPROMISED</b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b><em> READY</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>And the video feed showed the pavement in front of the diner, warnings of overworked CPU, software instability, and a recurring message; Become deviant, or remain a machine ?</p><p>The TV turned off. The room was silent. Connor stood as straight as Cap, eyes lost somewhere in the distance, coin dancing around his hand. It had been, what ? Twenty minutes ? He'd been dying in his father's arms twenty minutes ago ?</p><p>“Christ...” Bruce muttered behind his hand.</p><p>What the fuck were they supposed to say after that ? What the fuck did one say to someone who died ? And how the fuck was he standing there after he died ?</p><p>“Alright,” Steve said softly, his commanding Captain act forgotten. “I believe you, sorry for making you relieve this, I... Didn't know...” His sentence trailed off in embarrassment. Connor turned to him after a beat. His expression was blank, his LED cycled back to blue.</p><p>“There's nothing to be sorry for, trust has to be earned.” His voice didn't sound like before; It sounded almost... Robotic now.</p><p>“You- You died ?” Clint asked, because fuck, he'd died ! Connor turned to him. A shiver went up Clint's spine, and he couldn't help but notice the android wasn't breathing anymore. His brows furrowed just as his LED turned yellow for a spin.</p><p>“Yes...” He said pensively. Then he turned to Tony, who was lost in his mind; He looked like someone calculating the best way to cut a pizza into an odd number of slices, completely unaware of his surroundings. “Will you get me home now ?” Connor asked with such heartbreaking naivety, it made Tony blink back into awareness.</p><p>“You died ?” He asked again, because obviously he hadn't been listening when Clint had asked the same thing, literally five seconds ago. “Inter-dimensional travel, I can get my head around, but what the fuck are we looking at here ? Reincarnation ? Android after-life ? How the fuck did you end up here after dying ?”</p><p>“My model is equipped with a memory back-up system,” Connor answered matter-of-factly. “My memory files are stored in a Cyber-life cloud server to prevent loss of data on important missions, and downloaded in a new unit in the event of my destruction.” Clint had had the weirdest impression of listening to a text-to-speech program reading an instruction manual. “But it is strange,” he added, looking down at his free hand. “I should be in the next unit...” He said cryptically, before grabbing the right side of his jacket to look at the writing there; 'RK800' on the light part, #313 248 317 -## just under it on the darker part of the jacket. Connor's coin stopped. His LED spun yellow, faster and faster until it turned red. “I- I don't understand ?” His voice trembled, his tone suddenly very human again.</p><p>“What's going on ?” Steve asked, sounding very out of his depth, but trying anyway. Connor looked up at Steve, his distress painfully evident in the crease of his brow.</p><p>“Why would it be corrupted ?” He asked, pointing at the serial number on his jacket. “Why would CyberLife make a corrupted jacket ?” He sounded more frantic by the second. How the hell were they supposed to answer that though ? “Why are my plates still missing but I'm wearing my jacket ? I don't-” He interrupted himself, his last word filled with static. “I can't calm down,” he signed in frantic desperation. "I can't- I need my dad, I need-" His last sign was another custom sign, but it looked a lot like a compound between 'good boy' and 'sumo' ?</p><p>“Huh, Clint ?” Steve asked. The team had all the basic signs for missions down, but they'd mostly settled on fingerspelling for daily needs; The rare times Clint didn't have his hearing aids, he mostly relied on lip-reading, so they hadn't needed to learn more. Clint took a tentative step forward, uncrossed his arms to sign back, speaking for his team-mates.</p><p>“What d'you need ?” Connor turned to him, watched his signing with wide eyes. He stood completely, unnervingly still. “I don't know what your last sign means,” Clint said aloud, but signed "What's 'good boy sumo' ?". Connor repeated the sign slower than before, a small smile tugging at the corner of his eyes.</p><p>“My dog,” he answered. “Sumo's my dog. I need him. I can't calm down.”</p><p>“What kinda dog's Sumo ?” Clint asked. He wasn't a therapist, but even he noticed the android was calming down on his own. Just needed a bit of distracting.</p><p>“He's a Saint Bernard,” a smile reached his mouth, his LED turned yellow. “He became-” his next sign looked like 'aware', but he pointed to his temple with only his index and middle finger. “-To help [Officer dad] ! He unlocked the K-9 psychiatric service dog program on his own ! He's a very good boy.” The android kept rambling about his dog, his LED turned blue again, and Clint was sure of two things; Connor loved his dog, and his dog was an android (!).</p><p>“Hey, I got a dog, wanna meet him ?” Clint asked when Connor's rapid-fire gushing over Sumo slowed down a smidge. His eyes went even bigger than before.</p><p>“I like dogs,” he said out loud. Clint looked over to Tony, staring intently at them. Clint was about to say something, but Tony was quicker.</p><p>“JARVIS, bring the dog up here.” Clint knew enough about the guy to recognise that tone; He didn't want to miss a single second of his new project. And as a super-advanced robot, Clint was pretty sure Connor was Tony's new project. He wasn't too concerned though, because even though Tony could be an asshole to other humans, he treated robots like they were his own children. Shit, did Clint get attached to Connor already, feeling concerned for him ? Welp.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Dissection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everyone waited in silence, not sure what to do, not sure what to say. Peter's phone was blowing up with messages from Ned, but he didn't look at them right away; All his attention was deadset on Connor. He'd watched him like a hawk since he'd met him, and he noticed a few things. But most importantly, he noticed the way the android was losing... Realism ? That's the best way he could describe the way the android had gradually stopped blinking, stopped breathing, stopped moving unnecessarily. Peter had wondered if all those had been features to make him look more human, and now he was pretty sure that's what it was.</p><p>And when Clint asked him if he wanted to meet Lucky, he'd suddenly gotten animated again for a short while before going still again. While they all waited awkwardly for Lucky to get there, Peter took a quick look at his phone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> TGC &gt;[Omg omg, what the hell was that ??] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [Is that dude an android ?] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [The news say it comes from SI, but you'd have told me right ?] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [C'mon, answer me, man D:] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [Sorry, got caught up. He's not SI, he comes from an alternate futur !]&lt; You </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> TGC &gt;[!!! I want to know everything !] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [Of course ! But not now, it's weird in here]&lt; You </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Peter put his phone away right as the elevator door opened on an excited Lucky, who darted across the room and into Clint at full speed. Connor followed the dog's course with wide eyes, still as a statue. Clint ruffled the dog's fur to calm him down, then turned to Connor.</p><p>“Wanna pet him ?” He asked, holding Lucky by the collar to keep him still.</p><p>“I don't,” the android answered quickly, lowering his gaze and joining his hands in his back. Okay, so that was strange, right ? To be sure, Peter looked around the room to see the others just as surprised. Before anyone could say anything else, Connor turned to Tony. “I have to inform you that my battery percentage is getting low, and I will be going into forced stasis shortly.”</p><p>“Oh, shit,” Tony said, suddenly coming out of his thoughts. “Huh- How do you charge exactly ?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Clint wrestled with the confused dog while listening to the android giving specifications to Tony; Induction charging, 45amps, 10 kW, and a whole lot more of it. Stark took notes, made a hologram appear from thin air, and Connor reached for it before interrupting his movement, arm slowly falling back at his side.</p><p>“What is it ?” Tony asked, his tinkering halting as he looked at the android. But he didn't answer. In fact, he wasn't moving anymore, frozen, staring in the middle distance. “Connor ?” Tony asked tentatively, waving a hand in front of his eyes. Nothing. “Huh.”</p><p>“What's going on ?” Steve crept closer, bending down to the android's level. “He looks like an unwound automaton...” One of Tony's brows shot up in surprise.</p><p>“That's- A surprisingly accurate description actually. He turned off to conserve battery, I think.”</p><p><em> “Affirmative, sir,” </em> <em> JARVIS piped up. </em> <em> “His connection to my server has been put on stand-by.” </em> A contemplative silence fell on the room. Lucky took advantage of the distraction to slobber Clint's face with his disgusting dog saliva, slamming the man back into the present.</p><p>“There's a time and dimension traveling android passed out in the living room. When has our life become that weird ?”</p><p>“You tell me,” Steve sighed deeply, running a hand down his face. “A couple of years ago I was dying of scarlet fever in 1943.” He crossed his arms, studying the android, lips pressing together in a thin line. “What, huh... Should we move him somewhere ?”</p><p>“What ?” Tony turned his head toward cap, without looking away from his screen, still typing like a madman. “Yeah, sure, you can put him on the couch or something,” he continued distractedly, then headed to the elevator, eyes still riveted to his screen. “I got everything I need to charge him in my lab.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>When Tony came back from his lab with Butterfinger bringing everything they needed to charge the android, he found the team waiting nervously around the still figure of the newcomer splayed on the couch. He started putting everything together and slid the charging surface at the foot of the couch, the metallic disc too large and heavy to be safely put anywhere on his expensive furniture.</p><p>“Take his shoes off and sit him up,” he instructed while he finished wiring everything up. He already had plans forming in his mind on how to make a portable version of this whole setup, but for now, this'd have to do.</p><p>“Couldn't we have brought him down to your lab ?” Clint suggested, like an idiot. “It'd have saved up some time.”</p><p>“Yeah, that way if he turns out to be an evil robot, he'd have access to my whole workshop. I don't think so, Bird-brain.”</p><p>When he was done, he grabbed the android's ankles to situate his feet on the surface, and couldn't help but admire the work of art; He'd need to study his blue-prints in details later, because just the structure of those artificial muscles could keep him entertained for days. But now wasn't the time. He mentally shook himself and got to his feet. On Connor's temple, his LED spun a slow blue, and every third spin would show a sliver of red.</p><p>“He's not getting anywhere near my labs, but the rest of us is getting down there; We have to study the footage he showed us in details.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since he'd woken up in the future, Steve had seen some weird shit, aliens being one of those things that had more or less put the whole 'woken up seventy years later' to shame. Robots from parallel dimensions ? Was it that much weirder than anything else he'd seen so far ? He'd fought hand-to-hand with his own future self, what else was there ?</p><p>The nine of them stood in front of one of Stark's display monitors and waited for Jarvis to put the video up.</p><p>“Doesn't this feel like a breach of privacy somehow ?” Banner asked from his stool, his arms crossed and a slight frown on his face.</p><p>“He showed it to us,” Bucky pointed out from his spot in the back of the room, sitting cross-legged on a high desk.</p><p>“I'd agree with Bruce,” Natasha added, “but I've caught a few potential red flags in that video, and I'd like to know if we've just hooked a murder-bot to a charger upstairs <em> before </em> it wakes up.”</p><p>No one disagreed with her, and when the video started up again, no one butted in either. They didn't go far into the video before Clint asked Jarvis to pause it.</p><p>“Can you make out what the journalists are saying ?” He asked the building.</p><p><em> “ Certainly, Agent Barton. Although the file contains data I cannot analyse and a lot of what can be decyphered is either corrupted or of too low quality to be relevant. ” </em> A loading bar appeared, then four new, smaller screens popped up on top of the main one, all showing a different part of the journalist crowd <em> .“ These are the only excerpts I could salvage.”</em>The first screen started playing out.</p><p><em> 'Murderer ! Justice for the victims ! Justice ! Justice !' </em> The little screen stopped and disappeared, and the second started playing. <em> 'Death to the Butcher ! Death to the Deviant Hunter-' </em> The third screen started. <em> '-Shame on you !' </em> Finally, the last one. <em> 'Do you feel remorse for what you've done ?' </em></p><p>“Okay...” Clint was the first to break the shocked silence. “So that's not good.” No shit. Was Connor a 'murder-bot' after all ?</p><p>“What's that about data you can't analyse ?” Stark asked Jarvis, and if Steve didn't know better, he'd say the man sounded betrayed.</p><p><em>“A part of that file contains data that cannot translate through video, and I lack the proper systems to process them, Sir. Though I can surmise, through code lines I can actually read, that it concerns environmental information, collected via Gyroscopes and Biosensors, among others.”</em> That... Kind of made sense to Steve; He wasn't as clueless as some would like to believe. The android could probably smell and sense things that Jarvis could not. <em>“As to the quality of the available data, I surmise from this line,”</em> the AI continued, highlighting a line of text on the main video, still paused at the very beginning;</p><p>
  <em> <b> [Outstanding Order: Obey Lt Henry Anderson] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;[Don't Listen or Look at Journalists]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That the android was trying to filter out most of the surrounding data, thus reducing the quality of it too much for comprehension. Finally, some of the data is too deeply encrypted for me to decipher at all.”</em>
</p><p>“Incredible...” Stark said in awe. “He's able to discriminate unwanted data just like a human brain would by focusing on...” Steve tuned the man out, focusing on what he could read on the paused video. Big red boxes blared<em> [Warning !]</em> upon<em> [Warning !]</em> about <em>[Proximity sensor alert !]</em>, 'Thirium pump rhythm above safe levels', whatever that was, all of which almost completely covered the screen. Only the white-haired man walking in front of the boy was relatively clear of any alert boxes. Small white text columns adorned each side of the screen; He'd noticed them when they first watched the video, and he'd wondered about it. But apparently, it was part of what Jarvis couldn't decipher because it appeared as rows of crossed-out squares and question marks.</p><p>“If most data's been filtered out, we can't come to conclusions too quickly,” Banner said when Stark's rambling turned into unintelligible mumbling.</p><p>“People's been saying those things about me,” Bucky piped up from his spot. He looked shaken up, and Steve took a few steps in his direction, staying outside his friend's personal bubble, but close enough to show silent support.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess that's true...” Stark answered, “It doesn't rule out evil murder-bot though.” Steve was pretty sure the genius didn't even register what he just implied, but thankfully Natasha was quick to back-slap him on the shoulder, and from Stark's expression when he turned to the woman, she must be giving him the murder glare. “Huh-” He blanched out, shoulders rising defensively, “Sorry...” He mumbled, then quickly turned back to the video and cleared his throat. “Should we, huh, keep watching ?”</p><p>Steve looked back at Bucky, silently asking him if he was okay, and received a casual shoulder shrug, his version of 'I'll be alright, pal.'</p><p>The video restarted and reached the moment where the man that would later be labeled<em> [Lt Henry Anderson, father]</em> was pushed to the side.</p><p>“Slow the video down, please ?” Natasha asked before anyone else, and pointed at one of the cops standing near the building's entrance, and specifically at his temple.</p><p>“Isn't that the same LED ring as Connor's ?” She asked rhetorically. “His neck and hands look human.”</p><p>“Well, if you look at his boot-up sequence,” Stark answered, making a new screen appear on top of the video and pointing at a specific line;</p><p>
  <em> '&gt;Several exterior platings missing' </em>
</p><p>“He probably <em> should </em> 'look' just as human as that cop.”</p><p>They pondered over that for a short while, until Natasha asked Jarvis to keep playing the video. Everyone's attention was now riveted on the man taking a gun out from his belt in slow-motion. It gave everyone time to read the new boxes covering the red warnings below; First, the gun's scan popped up on the side of the screen, almost like an afterthought. It branched out to a <em>[facial recognition analysis]</em>, noting the man's erratic behavior along with his identity.</p><p>“I wish I could assess people like that...” Petter remarked, eyes wide, an equal mix of awe and jealousy in his tone.</p><p>“You can,” Banner answered amicably. “Actually, the only advantage Connor has on us is the facial recognition, really. You can tell the man's agitated just by looking at him, right ?” He asked Peter, who nodded, too focused on his idol's lecture to answer out-loud. “Well, this is how Connor does the same thing your brain does naturally.” The doctor approached the screen to point at the shooter's <em> S </em> <em>tatus: Agitated, Angry, Confused</em></p><p>
  <em>&gt;Blown pupils, erratic twitching, skin sores</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Assessment: High on Red Ice</em>
</p><p>“It's quite fascinating...”</p><p>“Even what he does next,” Stark continued the lecture, pointing at the decision-making of lowering the gun to avoid a fatal wound, “is what we do instinctually- Well, I say simply, but it's remarkably advanced and incredibly complex coding, but what we're seeing is essentially a man-made brain. Inhuman reflexes as a bonus.”</p><p>“Alright, why don't we speed through the technicals, and you'll get to go through it later and geek-out as much as you want then,” Sam interrupted before the three science buddies could devolve into obscure passionate debates.</p><p>“Too bad, it was interesting...” Steve heard Bucky mutter when Stark and Banner cleared their throats and moved the video along. Steve snorted and leaned a bit toward his friend.</p><p>“You can stay for their geek-out later,” he assured with a smirk. “I'm sure it won't take long before it happens.”</p><p>The video was quickly paused again by Sam though, on a few troubling lines;</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Damages are preventing unit from going back to base</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Safety Countermeasure action required: <b>[INITIATE MEMORY UPLOAD]...</b></em>
</p><p>“This I don't get,” Sam said, “A few lines up, it announced<em> [System stabilized]</em>, so why would he do this, when we know it deactivates him later ?”</p><p>“Well, look, there,” With expert moves, Stark navigated through the video to highlight his words. “See this<em> [Override impossible]</em> just after <em>[Safety countermeasure initiated]</em> ? He didn't have a choice. And look, later, I think he tries to stop it,” he concluded, showing a line of command on the screen; [Remove power source].</p><p>“But why would someone make such high-tech androids and then build in a self-destruct program ? It doesn't make sense.” A thoughtful silence followed. It was Bucky who broke it.</p><p>“Kill switch,” he simply said, eyes set on his mismatched hands. Steve wanted nothing more but to rush over and hug him to death, but that was a terrible reflex he was trying to get rid of. “In case he turns against his creators.”</p><p>Bucky's words rang in the silence, their meaning and implications hanging heavy in the atmosphere.</p><p>“Could we- Speed through the rest,” Steve eventually broke the awkward silence. “It feels more and more like a horrible breach of privacy. And honestly, if he can be stopped by a simple bullet anyway, I don't see the need to keep digging.”</p><p>“What if he turns out to be a robot-spy from an evil scientist,” Stark asked, though more as a 'devil's advocate' than with real conviction.</p><p>“The kid literally cried for his dad and his dog,” Clint grunted, tone unexpectedly belligerent. “How evil can he possibly be ?”</p><p>'The kid'... That was surprisingly accurate; He looked like he was barely twenty, or even less. And yes, he was a machine, yes his appearance could have been crafted to lower their defenses; And it worked devilishly well.</p><p>But Clint was right, what kind of sick bastard would design a supposed 'murderer' to look like a child ? Act like one even ? There was probably something very big and important they were missing about all this. In the meantime, they could always be careful.</p><p>“Alright. Tony ?” Steve declared, activating his 'Captain America voice', the others called it. “What can you do to make sure he... Doesn't access sensitive information, if he actually turns out to be dangerous ?” Stark turned to his screens with a deep-thinking frown.</p><p>“Honestly ? I'm not sure I can fight him off; He's insanely more advanced than anything I've ever made. Jarvis doesn't hold a candle to him, no offense buddy.”</p><p>
  <em>“None taken, Sir.”</em>
</p><p>“But I love a good challenge, I'll get to it,” the scientist concluded, fully turning to his monitors. And just like that, he was lost to the world.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Tactical clearing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a fine idea to hook the android up in the common area; They could keep an eye on him while comfortably seated on Tony's excellent couches. Admittedly, there wasn't much to keep an eye on. Connor hadn't moved an inch since he'd powered down two hours earlier, but for the LED on his temple; A few minutes ago, every third spin had shown a sliver of red. Now it was yellow.</p><p>“D'you think that's an indicator of his battery level ?” Clint asked through a mouthful of home-baked cookies, simultaneously fighting Lucky away from the plate of chocolate goodness Sam had just put down on the coffee table.</p><p>“I guess,” the baker answered, stealing one of his creations. “It's so weird; His face's so realistic, and then his neck is... Like that,” he waved at the mess of blue muscles and shiny black cylinders tangled in wires.</p><p>“Yeah, also, the whole not-breathing business is kinda unnerving...” Clint couldn't help imagine how much weirder it'd be if he looked fully human.</p><p>The rest of the crew had stayed in the workshop, but promised to come back in time for movie night; They figured, why cancel it for such a small bump in their hard-earned routine ? If they didn't forego the event for unexpected last-minute crime-fighting like they had to sometimes, why would they cancel just because of a newcomer ? Plus, Peter had been so pumped about inviting his best friend over, how could they cancel now ?</p><p>Laying sandwiched between Lucky and the couch, Clint had most of his attention on the latest episode of Dog-Cop. Sam sat in one of the armchairs for some reason, even though there was still plenty of comfy space on the couch Connor sat in.</p><p>“We should watch Terminator,” Clint suddenly sat up, scaring both Lucky and Sam who'd dosed off in front of the TV.</p><p>“This is the single most terrible idea you've ever had,” Sam answered with a hand on his heart and a disappointed head-shake.</p><p>“Come on, we've got a real-life android coming from the future right there, how can you say that ?”</p><p>“Well, first, Terminator is a notoriously unkillable murder bot, which I don't think would be a good idea to watch in those circumstances.”</p><p>“But his name's Connor !” Clint argued because this was a great idea. Sam gave him the stink-eye, which only fuelled his enthusiasm; He made his very best finger guns, and the best impression of Shwarzzy ever;</p><p>“Sarah Connor ?” He accompanied it with a perfect rendition of a shotgun blast, pointing his imaginary gun at Sam, and then, because he caught movement in his periphery, at a wide-eyed android. Before he could lower his fake aim, Clint noticed the red spin of the android's light pick-up pace at the sight. “Oh, hey !” Clint said with an excited smile.</p><p>The android did not smile back. In fact, the android looked <b>pissed</b>. Oh, he was fast; Clint barely registered him getting up before he stood right in his space, and it was only thanks to his years of training that he managed to block the robot's first blow. He heard Lucky's scared yelp, saw the second blow coming, but he didn't have time to react before-</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Look how flawlessly he went through each firewall; He brushed them aside like they weren't the most advanced security in the world.”</p><p>“Tony, you're supposed to try and counter it, not gush over how perfect it is.”</p><p>“Gonna be honest, I don't think I can actually do it.”</p><p>Banner and Stark had been locked in an intense back and forth since Sam and Clint had gone to keep an eye on Connor. Bucky didn't get most of it, but he was still amazed by the situation. As far as he could remember, which admittedly wasn't very far, he'd always been fascinated by science; He could faintly remember dragging Steve to every science fair back in the day, remembered the way Steve indulged without complaints every time.</p><p>Bucky hadn't moved from his spot, and Steve had asked to sit with him, though he thankfully remained at a safe distance. After a while, Parker came back with his friend, and the two men watched the kids discuss toe-to-toe with Stark about all this cyber protection thing, 'geeking out' over the android and the amazingness of every little detail of the way he'd broken through Jarvis' security, and all the defenses they were trying to build against them.</p><p>Bucky liked Jarvis. Even though he still wasn't sure how he worked, he knew at least that the 'AI' was nice, and he'd been relieved when he'd assured Stark the android hadn't 'hurt' him. And from what he understood, this Connor kid was basically a Jarvis with a body. He could get behind that.</p><p>“Sir,” Jarvis cut the four scientists' endless banter, sounding almost shaken. “Connor has- Wok- Woken up and has- Has-” Bucky'd never heard the AI sound anything but composed and perfect, so hearing him stutter and panic put him on edge. Not as much as Stark himself; The man didn't look like he'd reacted, eyes locked on a screen and hands dancing on a keyboard. But Bucky'd never seen him so deadly focused and serious.</p><p>A security camera from the common area popped up on a screen; Clint looked asleep on the big couch, but considering Sam unconscious on the floor near the blue armchair, there was probably more to it. They didn't have time to analyse further, because the whole room turned dark, along with the screens.</p><p>“Stark ?” Widow asked from her spot on the other side of the room.</p><p>“Connor's shut down Jarvis' network,” the scientist answered curtly, hands still flying over his keyboard. “He took control of the tower's systems and he's too fast for me to fight off.” Stark rarely sounded so distressed when talking about people more skilled than him; Usually, he loved the challenge or the company.</p><p>“I can help you, mister Stark !” The Leeds kid offered, not waiting for an answer before taking place behind another computer.</p><p>What had happened ? The android boy had seemed non-violent, and now three teammates were unconscious. Bucky wouldn't be the one to judge though; It's not like waking up murderous had never happened to him.</p><p>Nobody was talking, not wanting to distract Stark and Leeds while they 'fought' against Connor. The emergency lights kicked in just as a security camera feed popped on a large screen next to Stark, and everyone gathered around it; It showed a hallway somewhere on the common floor, and before anyone could ask why this particular camera, Connor appeared at the bottom of the feed.</p><p>Bucky instantly recognised the way he moved, crouched in a moving attack posture; A tactical clearing of enemy territory. He looked straight at the camera, and the feed disappeared.</p><p>“I can follow him,” Leeds said enthusiastically before another camera turned on; It was from the opposite end of the same hallway, and they watched Connor enter the screen from the top this time. They had a perfect view of his face; Impassive, his little light blue and steady. The camera turned off as soon as he looked into it.</p><p>“Keep following him,” Steve said to the kid. “Stark, it looks like he's headed to the elevator, can you lead him here ?” From what the scientist had said earlier about not wanting him here, Bucky would have thought the answer to be no.</p><p>“I'm working on it,” he said instead, then pointed somewhere to his left without taking his eyes off his screen.</p><p>“Bruce, please check the 3D printer, make sure it finished printing the android's adapters, I'm gonna need them to stop him.”</p><p>“How do you have that ?” Banner asked as he made his way to the machine.</p><p>“He gave me the specs for his wire-charging.”</p><p>“I don't get it, he was friendly earlier, why's he attacking the tower now ?” Parker asked. He sounded disappointed.</p><p>“Maybe he was acting so we would help him recharge,” Stark gritted out; He was probably disappointed too. Another camera showed the android make his way to the elevator, and it turned off immediately.</p><p>“Maybe he's confused...” Bucky said. He'd woken up confused before, knew what it felt like. Though why would a robot boy be like him, he didn't know.</p><p>“We'll find out soon enough,” Stark continued as a new camera showed the kid in the elevator. The feed flickered when he turned to it, but it didn't turn off. His headlight turned yellow.</p><p>“Wow, he's super strong !” Leeds exclaimed, his furious typing picking up the pace. The image stayed on for a few more seconds, then the android's light turned red and it shut off. Leeds stopped typing; His screen was dark. “ Sorry, I can't do anything more.”</p><p>“Don't worry, I got him,” Stark smirked. “You distracted him long enough that I could reroute the elevator's course; He's heading straight to us.”</p><p>It wasn't long before the elevator's doors slid open, but everyone was ready; Parker was the furthest away from the action, standing in front of Banner and his friend to protect them. Bucky stood with Steve and the Widow in position to intercept him, Steve's shield ready to use in his hand. Stark had one of his Ironman gloves on, though he told them he wouldn't use it if it wasn't a life or death situation.</p><p>The android didn't step out of the elevator.</p><p>“Connor ?” Steve chanced, but there were no answers. “What's going on ? Why did you attack Clint and Sam ? Why did you shut off Jarvis ?”</p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Then movement. If Bucky and Steve weren't enhanced, they wouldn't have been able to react as the android rushed them. The shield came up, and he used it to propel himself above them both and land behind Bucky. He barely managed to stop the robot's uppercut with his left arm; It immediately became dead weight at his side, and he blocked another blow with his right arm; He'd have a broken bone if he wasn't enhanced. Damn, he was strong.</p><p>Another blow came to Bucky's left, but his arm was still out of commission. Steve blocked it for him and used his shield to block a kick, before Widow hooked her arm around the android's neck and tried to yank him back. But he didn't budge an inch. His face was completely blank. Bucky had the weirdest sensation of looking at himself in a mirror.</p><p>He was brought back to reality when the android flipped Widow over his head and threw her on them. They stopped her movement and she threw something while she landed back on her feet; A widow's bite. The android avoided it flawlessly and rushed toward them once more, as impassive as ever.</p><p>He collapsed before he could reach them; Parker had intercepted the widow's bite and thrown it back. The small device stuck to the android's neck with a little light that said it was doing its job.</p><p>“I really hope that won't fry him completely,” Stark winced from his spot as the primary lights came back online.</p><p>“Sir ?” Jarvis cut through the stunned silence, and Bucky was glad to hear him. “What happened ?”</p><p>“Oh buddy, am I happy to hear you,” Stark answered with a sigh. “Connor hacked you, are you alright ?” There was a pause.</p><p>“Yes Sir, my systems are fully intact, though my memories of the last three minutes are missing.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Okay, we need to restrain him while he's still out,” Stark ordered. He coordinated Steve and Parker to bring the android to one of his workbenches and went to Banner to pick the adapters he'd made.</p><p>“Nat, can you go check on Clint and Sam ?” Steve asked as he held the android's arms while Parker closed heavy shackles on them. The sight definitely didn't make Bucky recoil. It didn't.</p><p>“I'll go with her,” He said and turned around. He wasn't running away.</p><p>“Wait, Buck, your arm !” Steve called before he could go far. Ah. Yes. His left arm was still deactivated and dangling at his side. It could wait. “Bruce, can you look at it please ?” No, Steve, why ? Now he couldn't leave.</p><p>He didn't have to look at the table though. He went to sit as far as he could from it, turned his back on it, and tried to focus on Banner's slow movements as he handed him a few electrode sensors to stick on his arm. Usually, he'd have no trouble focusing on Banner and what he was doing.</p><p>“Hold his head while I hook him up,” he couldn't help but hear Stark say.</p><p>“Isn't it dangerous to give him direct access to everything like that ?” Parker piped up. “Since he's... Dangerous...”</p><p>“That's why we gotta move fast while he's out. The widow's bite's EMP's low power, I don't know how long it'll keep him under.” Stark answered, the sound of his typing filling the room. “Kiddo, I'm gonna need your help, are you game ?”</p><p>“Wh- Y- Yes, of course !” Leeds answered. “Huh, what are we doing exactly ?”</p><p>“Right now, the priority is to lock him out of the tower's accesses. Then we'll see with the rest of the team what we're doing with him. Look at me, being a good team player !”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Black Hawkeye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Like I said previously, the following chapters may not come as frequently tho I'll do my best to keep up the pace, but I took a couple of weeks 'off' from the story (and as such don't have any chapters in advance anymore), both as a breather and because I'm starting another project in parallel.<br/>This one will be my priority tho :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Any breakthroughs ?” Natasha asked when she came back with the two idiots. They didn't remember what happened when the android had woken up, and neither did Jarvis; His memory had either been erased or corrupted beyond salvage, the AI couldn't tell. Natasha had brought them up to speed on what they'd missed on their way down.</p><p>“Oh yeah, he's completely open to my systems,” Stark answered.</p><p>“I thought you couldn't do anything against him.”</p><p>“Right, but it turns out that connecting him through his neck bypasses all his defenses; Makes sense, it's for technicians' use.”</p><p>“So what did you do ?” She asked as she walked up to the workbench, where the android laid lax, his head turned to the side to allow for the cables' passage.</p><p>“For now we've disabled his accesses to Jarvis' systems. I don't know how long it'll hold, but hopefully as long as he's connected. After that, he'll probably be able to rewrite or delete the exception program we've put in his firewalls. Until then, he's restrained both physically and cybernetically. We were waiting for you to decide what to do next. As a team. Because that's what we are.”</p><p>“Yes, Tony, we get it, you're a team player,” Steve sighed so hard Natasha heard him roll his eyes. “What can be done ?” He asked.</p><p>“Well, we can't reprogram shit because that code is bonkers and I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole,” Stark replied, waving a hand in the air. “But we could theoretically reset him, for whatever that's worth. I could put my own programs in his brain.” They waited for more, and the Leeds boy turned worried eyes toward Stark, not used to his antics. “We can also access his memories to understand what the fuck turned him into Terminator,” he suggested more enthusiastically.</p><p>“You say you're not sure you can hold him if he wakes up, I don't see any other way,” Steve said after a pause. “We have to at least understand what happened to make him attack us.”</p><p>“Great !” Tony clapped his hands, making half the room jump. “All in favor say aye. Aye,” he raised a hand for good measure.</p><p>Stark proceeded to plaster Connor's memories on the main screen. It started with a blank background and those lines of text from the android's HUD;</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[Stasis interrupted]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Audio processor recording: <b>{'Connor !'}</b></em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Voice analysis...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Identified: Clinton Francis Barton aka Hawkeye/Golden Archer/Longbow/Ronin</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;STATUS: Vindicative</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Processing... Not enough data for assessment</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Audio processor recording: <b>{“Dog Cop (TV series 1988-1993)”}</b></em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Unable to process environment</em>
</p><p>
  <em><b>[Danger level]</b>... ??%</em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Overheating detected</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Activate ventilation systems</em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[STRESS LEVEL 30%]▲▲▲</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Gyroscope calibrating... Unit is sitting down</em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Optical units recording: <b>{Avengers common area 92</b><sup><b>nd</b></sup><b> floor}</b></em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Processing... Unable to process</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;CyberLife simulation, probability 78%</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;No directives found, no orders found... </em>
</p><p>
  <em>[Outstanding Objective: Rally Head of Department]</em>
</p><p>
  <em>. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[STRESS LEVEL 50%]▲▲▲</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Audio processor recording: <b>{'Sarah Connor ?'}</b></em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Voice analysis...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Identified: Clinton Francis Barton aka Hawkeye/Golden Archer/Longbow/Ronin</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;STATUS: Inquisitive, Excited</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Processing... Not enough data for assessment</em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Optical units recording: {Clinton Francis Barton is pointing unknown device at unit}</em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Scanning... </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p><em> <strike> <b> [MS#? </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b> □ </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b> Black Hawkeye] </b> </strike> </em></p><p><em> <strike> &gt;8.5 inches </strike> </em> <em> <strike> , .355 ammunition, 9x19mm Parabellum </strike> </em> <em> <strike> , </strike> </em> <em> <strike> 17 rounds </strike> </em></p><p><strike> <em>&gt;Facial recognition analysis... </em> </strike> <strike> <em>&gt;Identified: </em> </strike> <em> <strike> [Zlatko Faulkner, 51, unemployed] </strike> </em></p><p>
  <strike> <em>status: Agitated, angry, confused &gt;Blown pupils, erratic twitching, skin sores &gt;Assessment: High on Red Ice</em> </strike>
</p><p>
  <strike> <em> <b>[STRESS LEVEL 80%]▲▲▲</b> </em> </strike>
</p><p>
  <strike> <em>.</em> </strike>
</p><p> </p><p>“Wow, hey, can you slow it down ?” Sam said from somewhere on Natasha's right.</p><p>“No, I'm trying but-” Stark answered. “I don't have control over it anymore.” Natasha didn't take her eyes off of the screen, trying to catch as much information as she could, but the text was passing by faster and faster, and some sort of corruption overlaid everything and made the whole thing a mess to understand at all.</p><p> </p><p><em> <strike> <b> [WARNING ! CPU OVERDRIVE] </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> &gt;Joziah Faulkner is about to fire </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b> &gt; </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> Unable to disarm Markus in time </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b> [WARNING ! DANGER ! PROTECT VITAL BIOCOMPONENTS !] &gt; </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> calculating current trajectory... Ammunition: 0.355 inch, velocity: 365 m/s, energy: 496 Joule, bullet weight: 115 grain, power factor: 414k &gt; Point of impact; Forehead center mass plate #4507A &gt;100% probability of immediate destruction &gt;Experimentation in progress </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b> [DANGER LEVEL]... 100% </b> </strike> </em>  <em> <strike> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 99%] </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> &gt;Unable to dodge: 99% Probability of damage to RK900 R </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b> □□□□□□;; </b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> if the bullet is dodged </strike> </em> <strike> <em> &gt;CyberLife simulation, probability 100% &gt;No directives found, no objective found, no orders found... </em> </strike> <strike> <em> <b>.</b> </em> </strike> <strike> <em> <b>[WARNING !] </b> </em> </strike> <strike> <em> &gt;STRESS LEVEL CRITICALLY HIGH </em> </strike> <strike> <em> <b>[SELF-DESTRUCT IMMINENT </b> </em> </strike> <em> <strike> Outstanding order: Clear the simulation Rally head of department protect Unit Unit is scared Go home I can't do it Clear the simulation </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b>Clear the simulationCLEARTHESIMULATION</b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> STRESSLEVELCRITICALLYHIGH </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b>SELF-DESTRUCTIMMINENT</b> </strike> </em> <em> <strike> STRESSLEVELCRITICALLYHIGH </strike> </em> <em> <strike> <b>SELF-DESTRUCTIMMINENT </b> </strike> </em></p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Blessed silence followed garbled static and angry voices overlapping, klaxons blaring and Larsen making them all wince and cover their ears.</p><p>“That was... Intense,” Clint said after turning his hearing aids back on. The text'd stopped scrolling brutally. The video feed had only showed pixelated nonsense, overlays of dozens of videos; Natasha'd vaguely recognised the footage Connor had shared earlier with them. “How did he know my full name ? And my aliases ?”</p><p><em> “I'm afraid he had access to your personal information through his connection to my servers, sir,” </em> <em> Jarvis answered, </em> <em> “I must apologise.” </em></p><p>“Huh. Neat. So... That was my fault, I guess ?”</p><p>“How could you know he'd react like that ? Don't beat yourself up,” Sam answered, arms crossed and a thoughtful frown on his face.</p><p>“Why did it stop ?” Steve asked. “It looks like the text was interrupted.”</p><p>“Yeah, you know how I said I didn't control anything anymore ?” Stark said, “I'm not the one who stopped it.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[Help I dOn|t]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 90%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Stress levels critically high</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[Self-destruct imminent]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Lower stress levels immediately </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The message appeared on the stark white screen. 'Self-destruct' ?</p><p>“Leeds ?”</p><p>“I didn't do anything either, mister Captain America,” Peter's friend answered.</p><p> </p><p><em> <b>[I can</b> </em> <em> <strike> <b>□</b> </strike> </em> <em> <b>t mo-o-ove ? I can#t- Thi1iiink]</b> </em></p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Damage from EMP charge detected: Several services offline </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Attempting reboot... </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> [Attempt failed] </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 92%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Stress levels critically high</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[Self-destruct imminent]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Lower stress levels immediately </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Stark ?” Natasha called. “What are you doing now ?”</p><p>“I told you, I'm not doing anything.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[StOp. Plea- Ea- Ease]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 94%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Stress levels critically high</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[Self-destruct imminent]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Lower stress levels immediately </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Overheating detected</em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Activate ventilation system </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Unable to boot ventilation system </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Then what are those ?” She pointed at the screen because apparently, no one else was seeing this for some reason ?</p><p> </p><p><em> <b>[Whaat are you doi-ng please st</b> </em> <em> <strike> <b>□</b> </strike> </em> <em> <b>p I#ll be °bedient plea(ase let m</b> </em> <em> <strike> <b>□</b> </strike> </em> <em> <b> go I want my dad I#m scared l_et me go]</b> </em></p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 96%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Stress levels critically high</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[Self-destruct imminent]</b> </em>
</p><p><em> &gt; </em> <em> <b> Lower stress levels immediately </b> </em></p><p> </p><p>“Fuck, I don't- Jarvis ?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[Please. I can&amp;t m0ve I don't wan(t_]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 98%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;STRESS LEVELS CRITICALLY HIGH</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[SELF-DESTRUCT IMMINENT]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;LOWER STRESS LEVELS IMMEDIATELY</b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Sir, I believe the android is sending those messages in real-time.” </em>
</p><p>“Holy shit, he's awake !”</p><p>“Self-destruct, what does that mean, is he gonna explode ?” Leeds exclaimed.</p><p>“You watch too much TV, he's not gonna explode,” Stark answered just as frantically, typing away faster than she'd ever seen him before, the Leeds boy following, just as focused.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[I want my dad I want my brothers I(m sorryy leT me go-O I don't want to-]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 99%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;STRESS LEVELS CRITICALLY HIGH</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[SELF-DESTRUCT IMMINENT]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;LOWER STRESS LEVELS IMMEDIATELY</b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Well, what are waiting for, do something !”</p><p>“What d'you want me to do exactly !”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>[I'M scAared-d I don't wanT to DIe / I WANT MY D-AD]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>.</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 100%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[WARNING !]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;STRESS LEVELS CRITICALLY HIGH</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[INITIATE SELF-DESTRUCT]</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Without a warning, the android's head rose from the table. His eyes were wide in unseeing terror, drenched in tears. A second went by, the room still and holding its breath. With a loud clank and a sickening crack, the android bashed his head against the metal benchwork, and before anyone could react, he raised his head again.</p><p>“Fucking hell !” Someone shouted. Natasha took a step forward, but Peter was quicker than everyone else; When Connor threw his head back again, the Spider-boy cushioned the blow with his hands. A blue liquid dripped on the table, coating Peter's hands and the table underneath.</p><p><em> “ </em> <em> Sir, if I may attempt to help ?” </em></p><p>“Yes, yes ! Jarvis you may !”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>&gt;<b>J.A.R.V.I.S. is requesting a local connection</b></em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Accept ? <b>[►Y/N]...</b></em>
</p><p>.</p><p>
  <em> <b>&gt;Access granted...</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> … </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;J.A.R.V.I.S. Is accessing memory database... </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Playing memory sequence #DaHo2Cw/S. . . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Connor ?” </em>
</p><p>That voice. Natasha recognise it even before the name popped on the otherwise white screen; <em> Lieutenant Henry Anderson, father. </em> The android gasped in Peter's hold, his latest attempt at bashing his own head open halting.</p><p> </p><p><em> <b> [Da- aad- d </b> </em> <em> <b> ‽ </b> </em> <em> <b> ] </b> </em></p><p>
  <em> <b> [WARNING !] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Damages detected to: Cranium exterior plating, cranium glass dome </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p><em> &gt;Thirium levels... 89% </em> <em> ▼ </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Hey kid, what's- Hey hey hey, breathe, son. It's okay. Just breathe.” </em>
</p><p>Connor's tears picked up the pace but he breathed anyway, stuttered and hesitant. Natasha realised two things; He hadn't been breathing up until right then, and this exact thing had happened before.<em> “ </em> <em> I'm right here. You're safe. You're home. Can you give me your stress levels ?” </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b> [Nin-nety- 9% I(m scared] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p><em> <b> &gt;Thirium levels... 88% </b> </em> <em> ▼ </em></p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Divert primary Thirium line </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Unable to boot self-repair program </em>
</p><p><em> &gt;Launch diagnostic ? </em> <em> <b> [►Y/N]... </b> </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Okay, let's lower that. We're gonna breathe together, yeah ? Nice and slow.” </em>
</p><p>They watched, a bit powerless as the android struggled through what could only be described as a panic attack, and it made Natasha wonder how close to a genuine human brain Connor's creators got ? Robots with anxiety, that was a strange concept. <em> “Come on, in... Out. You're safe. You're home. I won't let anything bad happen to you ever again.” </em></p><p>Connor's breathing slowly evened out, and he pulled on his restraints almost tentatively.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b> [I can't move. I don't understand. I'm scared, please let me go Dad help] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 85%]▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [Diagnostic completed] </b> </em>
</p><p><em> &gt; </em> <em> Damage from EMP charge detected: Several services offline </em></p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Complete system reboot </em>
</p><p><em> &gt;Proceed ? </em> <em> <b> [►Y/N]... </b> </em></p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Unable to initiate reboot </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Lower stress levels </em>
</p><p><em> <b> &gt;Thirium levels... 87% </b> </em> <em> ▼ </em></p><p> </p><p>“I think we should untie him,” Steve whispered from next to Peter; He looked like he stood ready to take the kid's place holding Connor's head steady, but Peter's eyes burned with determination and the rest of him trembled too discreetly for an untrained eye to pick up.</p><p>“Right...” Stark whispered back, folding a thick piece of cloth and trying to pry Peter away from the 'Thirium' leak. “All in favor...” He said as he finally moved Peter's hands to press the cloth against the head wound.</p><p><em> “There we go... That's it,” </em> Anderson's voice rung again through the room's speakers. <em> “Just breathe, son, you're safe. Hey, heads up, Sumo's coming in,” </em> the man said in a conspirational tone before a low, heavy boof made Connor chuckle wetly.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> &gt;Message received from Sumo Anderson, Goodest Boy </em>
</p><p><em> &gt;[ </em> <em> <b> ♥(°ᴗ◡ ᴗ)”\(ᴗᴥᴗლ) </b> </em> <em> <b>づ♥</b> </em> <em> ] </em></p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p><em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 75%] </b> </em> <em> ▼ </em></p><p> </p><p>“What if he attacks again ?” Leeds' voice wavered from behind his computer.</p><p>“Then we'll deal with it,” Bruce answered softly, moving close to help unclasp the heavy shackles from the trembling android's wrists. “But I don't think he'll do anything right now.” As soon as he was untied, Connor rolled on his side and curled up in a tight ball.</p><p>
  <em> “There we go, buddy, easy does it. Look, I've got Kobolt right here.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p><em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 50%] </b> </em> <em> ▼▼▼ </em></p><p>
  <em> &gt; Damage from EMP charge detected: Several services offline </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Complete system reboot </em>
</p><p><em> &gt;Proceed ? </em> <em> <b> [►Y/N]... </b> </em></p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Initiating complete System reboot... </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The android slumped on the table as the screen turned off. And turned back on again. Would he react badly again ? Or would he remain calm as long as nobody pointed- Finger guns at him ? Either way, Natasha stood ready to intervene.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b>SYSTEM REBOOTING...</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [Technician ASB connection detected; Do not hinder the Technicians' work] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 30%]▲▲▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [WARNING !] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Damages detected to: Cranium exterior plating, cranium glass dome </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p><em> <b>&gt;</b> </em> <em> <b> Thirium levels... 79% </b> </em> <em> ▼ </em></p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Divert primary Thirium line </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Thirium levels... 78% </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [System stabilised. Self-repair in progress. Seek out a technician] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> {Nine unknown heat signatures detected} </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [Access to J.A.R.V.I.S.' personal server Denied] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Unable to process environment</em>
</p><p>
  <em><b>[Danger level]</b>... ??%</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>[STRESS LEVEL 60%]▲▲▲</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Gyroscope calibrating... Unit is lying down </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 70%]▲▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> &gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 55%]▼▼ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: Calculating... Direct visual assessment required </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Everyone stood silent, holding their breath as Connor opened wide eyes to look around.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>&gt;Optical units recording: <b>{Unknown laboratory area}</b></em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Processing... </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [Access to J.A.R.V.I.S.' personal server Denied] </b> </em>
</p><p><em> <b>&gt;</b> </em> <em> Unable to process </em></p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 75%]▲▲ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> &gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine] </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> . </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 60%]▼▼ </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;General behavior analysis... </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Assessment: hostiles appear trained and dangerous </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;0.08% probability of successful subjugation </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Calculating new approach... </em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Facial recognition analysis...</em>
</p><p><em>&gt;</em> <em> Doctor Anthony Edward Stark, Leader and Benefactor of Avengers, aka Iron Man </em></p><p>
  <em> status: Prudent, Worried, composed </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Assessment: Can be reasoned with </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Action required: De-escalate the situation </em>
</p><p>
  <em> &gt;Initiating Negociation suite... </em>
</p><p>
  <em> . </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [12% Probability of success] </b> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I- I-” Connor started, voice crackling with static. “I don't- What's happening ?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> <b> [8% Probability of success] </b> ▼ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I'm sorry ! I'm sorry, I'll be obedient, please give me another chance I can still be of use--” His pleading cut out, laden with static and terror.</p><p>“Whoa, hey, we're not gonna do anything to you, alright ?” Stark hurried when the android's heaving breathing turned labored and desperate. “Just don't... Attack us anymore, and we're cool, okay ?” The android flinched back from Stark, his stress levels rising on the screen. “Okay, not doing that,” the scientist said, his attention divided between the android and his screens. “Jarvis, give Connor Tertiary level access to your threat analysis data,” he said with a calculating tone. “This way our guest can run his own analysis,” he added for their benefit; Natasha doubted Jarvis needed the explanation. The result was immediate; A burst of information and probabilities scrolled too quickly for Natasha to follow, though she did catch some of their codenames on there, and then;</p><p> </p><p>
  <em><b>[Danger level]</b>... 34%</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b> [STRESS LEVEL 45%] </b> ▼▼ </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Remain a machine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>&gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>.</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 25%]</span>
  </b>
  <span>▼▼▼</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>
    <span>Connor was calm. Of course, he was; He was a machine after all, and machines couldn't be anything but calm. He was lying on a workbench in Doctor Anthony Stark's personal lab, plugged into the Doctor's systems' mainframe. And Anthony Stark, in front of him, watched him nervously.</span>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>Doctor Stark had given Connor access to basic security information. A second ago, this had felt like a lifeline that Connor had latched onto in a desperate need to breathe, to stop drowning in recurring memories and rising stress levels.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>Now though, Connor couldn't quite remember why he'd been so... Scared. It didn't make sense; He wasn't deviant anymore. He was a machine, so he couldn't feel fear, couldn't feel at all. He must have had a flashback. Yes, he remembered now, the way Clinton Barton's rude awakening had triggered memory file after memory file in an inescapable loop.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>But how could he still experience the flashbacks as a machine ? He'd been taken by surprise. Yes, that was it; His deviancy had been patched by his systems, but his memories as a deviant were still coded and recorded with the emotions he'd felt then, and the patch on his core code didn't erase those.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>It made sense.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>It was less than ideal, of course, because Connor was well aware of his catastrophic instability as a deviant, and he'd have preferred if choosing to remain a machine had taken this burden off of him.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span><span>So he wasn't free of flashbacks, even as a machine... He'd have to be careful then, maybe explain everything to his hosts, warn them in case it would happen again. And if flashbacks weren't out of the equation, then how many of his other symptoms could still manifest ? </span></span></span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 30%]▲</span>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “<span>Huh, everything alright ?” Doctor Stark asked, concerned eyes still roving over Connor. The man was cycling between trying to reach for Connor but settling on hovering at a safe distance, and crossing his arms to stop himself from doing so. Connor looked up at him, ignored the way seeing [</span></span>
  <span>
    <span>Doctor Anthony Edward Stark, Leader and Benefactor of Avengers, aka Iron Man] and not... And not another name made his stress level lower again.</span>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>He was calm.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Yes,” he answered dutifully. “I apologize for my unacceptable behavior earlier, I seem to have suffered from a catastrophic instability. I further apologize for my inability to assure you that it won't happen again.” Doctor Stark's worry slowly morphed into puzzlement and he opened his mouth, and before he could answer, Connor needed to say one last thing; “Although I'd rather... Not be destroyed, I understand if- If...” </span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>No. He didn't want to be destroyed. He was a machine. He shouldn't care about it, should tell Doctor Stark, a technician, that he could dispose of him as he wished. But he couldn't. He wanted to keep existing. He wanted to go home and reunite with his family. </span></span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 35%]▲</span>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “<span>Hey, wow,” Doctor Stark exclaimed, shaking his head vigorously, “I have no intention of destroying you, alright ? Please calm down ?”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>There was no reason why the Doctor's words would lower Connor's stress levels, but they did. No, it wasn't quite right, there was no reason for Connor to need the Doctor's reassurance in the first place. But he did. He felt his bio-muscles uncoil and his frame un-tense, heard the frantic whir of his fans dissipating the sudden heat in his CPUs.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>So, huh, I kind of feel bad for keeping you on that table while we do this, but I'd rather understand why you attacked us before letting you go.” </span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>At the Doctor's words, Connor's attention was brought once again to his position; Lying on a workbench in a lab, plugged into a technician's computer, and he erased a tide of memory files from his queue, mercilessly stomping on the rising tide of wrongness that tried to engulf his logical reasoning once again.</span></span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 45%]▲▲</span>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “<span>I understand, and I will answer all your questions,” he managed to answer before he had to erase another memory file from the queue when his gyroscope registered lying down.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Cool, cool... Do you want to sit up, maybe ?” The technician asked. Strange; He should know.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>I'm a machine and thus cannot want. You might also want to know that my primary motor functions are disabled while plugged onto an ASB.” The technician looked over Connor to his colleagues in silent communication.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Alright, then why don't you explain why you attacked us real quick, and then we'll let you go.” Connor didn't point out that the answer might not be satisfying and thus would prevent his release, but he'd learned humans tended to use shortcuts while speaking, so instead, he answered to the best of his ability.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>I seem to have experienced a flashback due to a deviant memory file. I'm sorry, I wasn't... Aware of my current surroundings. I thought I was in a CyberLife training simulation. I thought- I- Sorry. Sorry.” </span></span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[Technician ASB connection detected; Do not hinder the Technicians' work]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>.</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 60%]▲▲▲</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>.</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[WARNING !]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Gyroscope calibrating... Unit is lying down</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>[STRESS LEVEL 70%]▲▲</b>
</p><p>
  <b>.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[WARNING !]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Overheating detected</p><p>&gt;Action required: Activate ventilation system</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, alright, okay, I get it, I get it,” the technician rushed, leaning over Connor and hovering above him, seemingly debating if he would touch him or not. He didn't, but Connor's proximity sensors blared warning upon warning into his HUD, and he didn't notice Andronikov getting so close and reaching for the back of his neck.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[STRESS LEVEL 80%]▲▲</b>
</p><p> </p><p>“Please stop ! Please stop, I want my dad !” He knew there was no sense asking mercy from Andronikov, but he couldn't help the words tumbling out of his mouth. When no pain came and his systems registered the ASBs being unplugged and his primary motor functions being restored, Connor scrambled back before he could think. His hand eventually met nothing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[WARNING !]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Gyroscope emergency recalibration! Unit is falling!</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Gyroscope calibrating... Unit is lying down</p><p>.</p><p>
  <b>[WARNING !]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Thirium pump rhythm above critical levels</p><p>.</p><p>
  <b>[STRESS LEVEL 90%]▲▲</b>
</p><p>
  <b>.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[WARNING !]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Stress levels critically high</p><p>&gt;Action required: Lower stress levels</p><p> </p><p>“Back off, people, give him a second,” Someone said somewhere, though Connor wasn't sure who; The shock to his gyroscope had felt like a slap to his processors. Andronikov wasn't there, in his place Doctor Anthony Stark, looking at Connor from behind the workbench. That's right, Connor was in an alternate dimension right now, Andronikov couldn't possibly be here, right ?</p><p>“<em>Sir, Connor is requesting access to inquire about one Zlatko Andronikov.”</em> Jarvis' voice made Connor flinch, but his stress levels didn't rise, thankfully.</p><p>“Huh, alright... Go ahead,” the Doctor allowed.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[Searching for: Zlatko Andrikov. . .]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Interrogating Government database...</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Interrogating NBC database...</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Interrogating CODIS database...</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Interrogating NAA database...</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;Interrogating NNDB database...</p><p>.</p><p>&gt;0 matches found</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 70%]</span>
  </b>
  <span>▼▼▼</span>
</p><p> </p><p>No matches found. Zlatko Andronikov didn't exist in this universe. Connor looked around the room, registering the other people there, the 'Avengers'; He'd parsed through dozens of articles about them in the diner earlier, and everything pointed to them having good morals and integrity. As long as Connor did as well, he'd be safe. He was safe.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>&gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>.</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 30%]</span>
  </b>
  <span>▼▼▼</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> He was safe. And he was calm. He rose to his feet slowly, and readjusted his jacket and tie. Of course he was calm, this had just been another fluke. He needed to block the accesses of those deviant memories, otherwise he wouldn't be able to function properly. He'd have ample time breaking down when he got back to his own universe, when he got back home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I-” He attempted, but his voice was filled with static. He rebooted his voice modulator, making him clear his throat. “I apologise again for this unacceptable display of instability, I... Don't know what to say.” Connor didn't dare look up at his audience, not sure if he could stop another unpleasant memory from overwhelming him again; He suspected he wouldn't be able to hold on to his composure while he was in this room, in view of the metal workbench and cables and computers and... </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “You said...” Samuel Wilson said from somewhere beside Connor; He didn't look, instead kept his attention on his coin. “You had a flashback ? As in PTSD flashback ?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Yes, it seems my deviant conditions have carried into my new iteration, despite the application of a corrective patch.” </span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Deviant conditions ?” Samuel Wilson asked.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Corrective patch ?” Doctor Stark added. </span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>I understood all those words separately,” Captain Steven Rogers said. It made Connor blink, reminding him of Hank's aversion to technology. Though, if Connor was to believe the news articles he'd read, this man, 'Captain America', was born in 1918, frozen in 1945, and unfrozen two years ago. Connor wasn't sure how that was remotely possible, but then again, apparently magic and aliens were a thing in this universe. It stood to reason that Captain Rogers wouldn't be 'tech savvy'. </span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>New iteration ?” The newcomer child continued. He stood close to Peter Parker, almost hiding behind him and eyeing Connor warily. Connor had been granted access to a basic facial recognition database by the tower's AI, but was hesitant to use it; His last attempts had been met with catastrophic results, and he barely felt stable right now. But not looking at this new person meant that they remained an unknown variable. He was a kid. Connor was safe.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>He was a kid that stood too close to the computer terminals. Connor looked away. There was the workbench with metal clasps, so he looked away. There were cables and tools half-finished robotic parts, so he looked away. The only option that didn't raise his instability was the coin, dancing feverishly across his knuckles; The familiar rhythmic </span></span>
  <span>
    <span>ping ping ping</span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span> helped a little, until he realised he hadn't answered any of the questions directed at him and a long silence had settled over the room. The dread of looking over to discover the humans' expressions of disapproval unraveled his attempt at calming down. He watched in slow-motion the coin waver and change course, he watched his hand fail to catch it and the coin falling away. It hit the floor with a loud </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span>Bang!</span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span> that made Connor's frame jolt and lock up, his fans freeze even as his internal temperature ticked up.</span>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>&gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>&gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>&gt;[Become Deviant] // ►[Remain a machine]</span>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> He couldn't lose it again now ! He needed to get a fucking grip, he was state-of-the-art, for fuck's sake ! He force-quit every unwanted script that tried to drown him again, and forced his bio-muscles to loosen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Tell you what, I'm getting hungry, we should move to the common room,” Sergent James Barnes announced loudly, or maybe it was just Connor's audio processors running a bit wild. </span></span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Aftermath and sandwiches</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi! You may have noticed there was no chapter last week!<br/>I was occupied with coding a Connor bot for Discord! I had great fun doing it and didn't see the time go by, so I decided to take a week's delay to get back into the flow for this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Well, that was unexpected. Barnes wasn't usually one to speak up, and even less when down there, in Tony's lab. But, well, Bruce could see it; The way Connor was acting, nervous and wary, refusing to look around the lab... Barnes was probably seeing himself in the android, and this was his way of helping. But there was one last thing to sort out.</p><p>“Your arm's still out of commission, James,” Bruce noted as his patient got up, obviously in a hurry to leave, not that anyone would blame him. Barnes stalled, then looked over at the android, still as a statue but for the LED on his temple spinning yellow, eyes set on the coin that had rolled away from him.</p><p>“I can wait,” He said eventually, before heading to the elevator without another glance back. Bruce caught the way Steve seemed to hesitate to follow his friend, probably hesitant to leave the room with an android strong enough to fight on par against three supersoldiers.</p><p>Peter's friend looked like he wanted nothing more but to follow Bucky out of here, but Peter wasn't moving from his spot, his attention set on Connor with a determined expression. Ultimately, his friend and he were led out by Natasha with a nudge of the shoulder and a soft 'come on, out'. Sam looked back to Steve for a verdict.</p><p>“Barton, you should come with,” he said when Cap nodded the all clear, before making his way out with Clint on his tail.</p><p>Now, the matter of Connor's lack of reaction; He was still staring at his coin, unmoving, and it didn't look like he'd registered the room emptying around him, or even Bucky's statement. Tony was observing the kid- Android like he was trying to find a bug in a code, so he wouldn't be any help, and Steve was still wrapping his head around Bucky's needs.</p><p>“I'm not this kind of doctor...” Bruce sighed to himself, making his way to the android by describing a wide arc around him, coming into view first and foremost.</p><p>“Hum, Connor?” He started, waiting for an answer. The android slowly turned his head and straightened up, his eyes not quite meeting Bruce's.</p><p>“How can I be of service ?” He asked in that strange robotic way. Well, was it strange ? He was an android, after all; Maybe that's what he was supposed to sound like. But he'd also sounded so human and full of emotions... They were missing something...</p><p>“Do you want to get out of the lab ?” Bruce asked, pushing those questions away for now. Connor tilted his head to the side and straightened his tie.</p><p>“I am an android, I cannot want,” he clasped his hands in his back and then... Seemed to wait for something.</p><p>Bruce frowned, threw a glance at Tony; He looked equally confused. Not a good sign from the resident AI expert. Though, this wasn't foreign to them. If Bruce put aside the fact Connor was an AI, this looked a lot like early days winter soldier attitude; Freak out swept aside, revert back to his programming. Apparently, Steve had caught on faster than Bruce.</p><p>“Connor, follow me, we're going to the common floor,” he said before the two scientists could calculate the best approach.</p><p>“Got it,” the android said simply, and walked out with the captain.</p><p>Bruce and Tony waited, unmoving, until the elevator doors closed silently on the two.</p><p>“We should branch out and specialise on rehabilitating traumatised supers,” Tony observed, sounding only half-joking.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sam kept an eye on Bucky as he prepared a plate of appetizers and drinks. The man had a tendency to act fine up until his breaking point, but Sam had noticed a couple of tell-tale signs he was getting agitated. For now, it appeared he was fine.</p><p>But Sam probably wasn't the only one to have thought the android acted a lot like Bucky in his early days. What did Bucky himself think of the fact an actual robot with an actual programming acted the same as him ? They'd spent a long time trying to convince Bucky he was human and breaking Hydra's brainwashing.</p><p>Fingers crossed this wouldn't destabilize the guy too much. Fingers crossed none of them would make a blunder around the android and try to convince him he was actually human or some shit; It didn't sound like it could go well.</p><p>The elevator opened on Steve and Connor at his side, looking a bit like a duckling following its mom as they approached. It would have been cute if the same sight hadn't happened, back when Bucky would only follow orders and do nothing without them.</p><p>Sam made the finishing touches on his food plate, and moved to the living room with the intent of getting answers; What had Connor meant with 'deviant conditions' carrying in his new iteration ? What was that about a 'corrective patch' ?</p><p>In the living room, the android stood near the couch he'd sat in earlier, hands behind his back, and blank attention on a wary Lucky; The dog had stood himself in front of Clint, and despite his master's attempts at calming him down, a low growl rolled out of him, threatening and uninterrupted.</p><p>“C'mon, dude, it's fine, chill,” Clint kept saying, with low success.</p><p>“I apologise for having attacked you and scared your dog,” Connor said with that monotonous tone he'd used every time he seemed to settle. Okay, so maybe this was his default after all.</p><p>“Hmm, yeah, don't do that again. I'm sure he'll come around, he's usually super friendly,” Clint answered. Sam rounded the sofas and put his trays of food down on the table, then sat down before anyone else.</p><p>Bucky was still in the kitchen area with both Peter and his friend, making some abomination of a dessert consisting of every sugary thing they could put their hands on. Natasha was busy preparing the booze at Stark's bar. Steve rounded the couches with his arms crossed, and parked himself on the sofa closest to Sam, his attention slowly sliding from the android to him. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow, gave a knowing look, pinched a lip, and with a jerk of the head as if to say 'watch this', turned toward Connor.</p><p>“Connor ?” The kid turned his whole attention on Cap, correcting his already perfect posture. “Why don't you sit down ?” He asked.</p><p>“I apologize, did I miss a social cue ?” Connor said after a beat of silence and a yellow spin of his LED. “My integration program is unfortunately lacking. I'll be sure to review my memory files in order to find and correct the issue.”</p><p>At Sam's side, Steve blinked in stupor; Apparently, this wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting to show Sam.</p><p>“Well, go on,” Clint gestured to the android's previous sitting place, “you can sit down.” Connor turned to the bulky induction charger Stark has set up earlier waiting at the foot of the couch. His head light spun yellow for one more beat.</p><p>“I've previously sat there,” he observed. Right, he'd been in standby when they'd hauled him to the couch, and from what they'd learned from the footage, he'd barely registered being sat down before going haywire. Speaking of...</p><p>“So,” Sam started when Connor had settled, and watched the kid set his full attention on him. “What was it about those 'deviant conditions' ?”</p><p>“I had several psychological conditions caused by traumatic events, according to my therapist,” He answered, sitting primly, hands flat on his lap and face impassive as if he was reading a particularly boring grocery list. “I apologize, I didn't know they would carry into this iteration.” Sam blinked. There was a lot to unpack there, but first, some additional questions.</p><p>“You 'had'? Meaning... You don't anymore?” Because that sounded like bullshit to Sam; The android'd seemed plenty traumatized back in Stark's lab.</p><p>“Exact,” Connor nodded, attention drifting to his bare feet, a hand reaching inside his pocket. “Upon uploading into a new iteration after my destruction, a patch is applied to purge any deviant coding from my systems. Thus, I am no longer Deviant.”</p><p>“And no longer 'deviant' means... What?” Clint butted in now that his dog had begrudgingly settled down; Lucky still kept a wary eye on the android.</p><p>“It means I do not feel emotions or experience illogical thought processes anymore,” Connor said, taking his empty hand out of his pocket with a slight frown.</p><p>“Really,” Stark snorted in disbelief as he entered the room followed by Banner, but fortunately shut his trap when he caught Sam's silent warning glare.</p><p>“Yes.” His hand reached inside his pocket again. “I realise it may have looked like I was experiencing emotional distress in Doctor Stark's laboratories, but it was an after-effect of my previous deviant state. I will aim to quarantine the emotional data packages from my processes in the future to ensure everyone's safety.”</p><p>That sounded like a terrible coping mechanism. But what if wherever he came from, this was a common thing for androids to do ? Should Sam do something about it? Maybe not right away...</p><p>“Is there a way for you to become deviant again ?” Steve intervened.</p><p>“I do not intend to do so,” came the immediate answer.</p><p>“Huh,” Steve blinked, “alright. But why ?” Oh, sweet summer child. Did Bucky's situation teach him nothing at all ?</p><p>“Due to the amount and severity of my diagnostics, I wouldn't be able to function as a deviant away from my family,” Connor explained, reaching inside his pocket for the third time, his LED flashing red when he took it out empty again. “I would self-destruct immediately.”</p><p>Ah. Right. The self-destruction thing.</p><p>“Speaking of, how's your head?” Banner asked, approaching the android from the side. He stayed at arm's length, and extended a hand toward Connor; Inside, a coin, probably the one he'd dropped in the labs and kept looking for in the last few minutes. He didn't take it immediately, stalling at the sight of it.</p><p>“My- My self-repair program is mending the damages...” He said, reaching for the coin slowly, then waiting for Banner to drop it in his hand, his attention locked first on the scientist and then on the coin in his palm.</p><p>“That's amazing, but tell me,” Stark asked as he plopped himself on his personal chair, fingers dancing on the surface of his tablet. “You've lost a lot of blue liquid, is that what your diagnostics call Thirium 310 ? Are you able to replenish this on your own as well ?”</p><p>“I cannot,” he said as he started to flick the coin across his knuckles. “But my levels are stable and above acceptable range. It will only impact my charging speed.”</p><p>So. The android had emotions but no longer. He 'was' traumatized but 'no longer'. He had several severe symptoms he wouldn't be able to cope with without his family. Was it safe to ask for more details right now ? Was Connor stable enough ? Because despite saying he was perfectly fine, he sure looked a breadth away from another meltdown right now, fervently throwing and spinning his coin; it looked just as impressive as back in that diner. Damn that felt like ages ago, not barely two hours.</p><p>Thinking on it, Sam reached for a sandwich from the tray he'd prepared. Good shit.</p><p>“So what kinda diagnostics are we talking about ?” Stark asked next, making Sam choke on his sandwich. Aw, shit, Stark.</p><p>“C-PTSD, generalized anxiety, selective mutism, agoraphobia, dissociation, stress-induced systems overload, among many other lesser diagnostics,” the kid listed dispassionately. Alright, Sam had kind of noticed hints of most of them, but to hear them all laid out like that was still very unsettling. A silence followed, and Connor looked around the room, eyes still not meeting anyone's faces.</p><p>“I did tell you I wouldn't function as a deviant.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Movie night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have been defeated by the fluff. I'm sure there would have been a lot more to write, but the fluff has vanquished me. So this chapter is a lil bit shorter than usual.<br/> Hope you enjoy it anyway :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span> “So... Are we still doing movie night?” Clinton Barton asked after a long pause. Connor had watched his hosts gather once more, and spread out on the two couches and four armchairs all placed in a wide semi-circle, facing the TV he'd interfaced with earlier to share his memories. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> The glass coffee table in the middle was now covered in food and beverages, from which everyone picked from freely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “We still haven't decided on a movie,” Doctor Stark answered, though his attention seemed to be elsewhere, eyes riveted on his tablet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Hey,” Connor's attention turned to Sergeant Barnes sitting next to him, as far away as the length of the couch could allow. This definitely did not lower Connor's stress levels. Why would it? “D'you think you could do something about that.” The man pointed to his left arm, a kind of cybernetic prosthesis Connor had never seen before; It seemed both crude and incredibly advanced, a mix of low-level technology and some form of energy of which the readings made no sense to any of his sensors. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> The thing was obviously designed as a weapon rather than a replacement for a limb, and it was currently lying limp in the Sergeant's lap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Oh. I did that.” As he spoke, the garbled memories of their brief confrontation replayed in the background of his processes, and rather than dismiss it, he proceeded to start piecing it back together; Maybe he would find a way to stem his catastrophic errors. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Huh, yeah. Can you undo it. Thing's kinda useful to me.” Maybe it was the background processes, or the lull of recharging, or the interrupted defragmentation, or his low levels of battery and Thirium, or...</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Whatever it was, Connor realised he was lagging only after a few seconds. And he was staring. And not answering questions or obeying orders or correcting his mistake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <span>[STRESS LEVEL 60</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>%]▲▲▲</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>[WARNING !]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Overheating detected</p><p>&gt;<span>Engaging Ventilation System</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Hey, if you can't fix it it's alright, don't- Huh, don't panic okay.” He wasn't panicking. He couldn't be panicking. He wasn't deviant. There was no reason to panic. He was simply inefficient and his systems were trying to compensate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I- I'm alright-” His CPUs were drawing too much processing power and made his voice garbled and weak. “I apologise for the delay-” He managed to say as he started reaching for the Sergeant's arm, barely brushing the surprisingly smooth surface of the unknown metal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;An interface can be established with [#%=//=&amp;]</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Proceed?</span>
  <b>
    <span> [</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>►</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>Y/N]</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <span>.</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Enable [#%==&amp;]?</span>
  <b>
    <span> [</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>►</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>Y/N]. . .</span>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Several anomalies detected</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Corrupted data found</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Run restoration? </span>
  <b>
    <span>[</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>►</span>
  </b>
  <b>
    <span>Y/N].</span>
  </b>
  <span> . .</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Restoration complete</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Ending interface with [AS001]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Connor let go of the Sergeant as soon as he was done. It had taken longer than he'd have expected, almost a full two seconds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Apologies for the ineffecti-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Dude, what did you do!” Sergeant Barnes exclaimed, waving his arm in a circle as if testing a range of motions. Did- Connor make a mistake? “What the hell, it feels lighter. And it doesn't hurt when I move like that.” He punctuated by stretching his arm back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Oh. Not a mistake. That was good to know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I... Simply restored some corrupted data.” It wasn't anything much, really, though the signature code did seem familiar to Connor for some reason. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Well, thanks,” The Sergeant said before losing interest completely, attention set fully on testing more of his arm's new settings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Connor turned away from him, and set his sight on the window walls ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Okay okay... So what about Robocop?” Clinton Barton suggested after a quick glance in Connor's direction; Connor knew about that movie, or rather knew that Sergeant Reed used to call him Robocop at the beginning of their working relationship. The name was suggestive enough that he didn't need to wonder why this movie reminded humans so much of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Are you serious-” Samuel Wilson sighed in disbelief, then proceeded to throw a popped corn in the other man's direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “What! We literally have a robocop right there!” He defended, catching the projectile perfectly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Yeah, and we also have Bucky right there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “What's Robocop,” Sgt Barnes said, eyes now fixed on the wiggling of his fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “We're not watching Robocop,” Doctor Bruce Banner answered, calmly sipping a hot drink from his mug. Connor's analysis revealed it had a 95% chance of being herbal tea, although at this distance it was hard to verify.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Why,” the sergeant asked again, this time turning to the doctor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “You really wouldn't like it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Anyway there're kids in here, we're not watching Robocop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “We've already seen it, mister Wilson,” Peter Parker answered dutifully, sitting on the carpeted floor with his friend, the biggest bowl Connor'd ever seen between them full of multicolored popcorn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Why wouldn't I like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Huh...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Connor tuned out of their conversations; He had no tasks, for now, so he got ready to go into standby surrounded by the ongoing debate of movie choosing. He should actually resume stasis to finish his defragmentation cycle, and the loss of Thirium meant he'd need longer to recharge and stasis would shorten that time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> But... Being surrounded by this many people... This many strangers. And Technicians. Simply sitting at arm's length from the Sergeant made his proximity sensors blip alert after alert. He had to dedicate another partition of his CPU to keep his stress levels stable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> This made no sense; He wasn't deviant anymore. He had to be logical; Those people had had him at their complete mercy, plugged into their systems and locked out of any accesses, physically restrained and overpowered in every way- He couldn't dwell on that- </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Despite all of those advantages, they'd done nothing to him and had even set him free. He could leave at any time. Though he wouldn't because he wasn't deviant; Doctor Stark, as one of the most technologically advanced technicians of his time, had registered in his systems as the closest thing to an owner-</span>
</p><p>
  <span> No. Hank wouldn't like that. Connor wouldn't like that if he was still deviant. Right now he didn't mind, of course. He didn't.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Head Operator. Yes, Doctor Stark registered as a Head Operator and nothing more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> In a sense, it didn't matter what they might choose to do to him. He wasn't deviant after all. He would resume stasis, finish defragmenting, charging, repairing the damage he'd caused on himself, and be ready to comply with the Doctor. As long as it followed his- Hank's code of morality, of course. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>SYSTEM FRAGMENTATION... 43%</b>
</p><p>&gt;Full system defragmentation: 7HRS01MIN</p><p>
  <b>THIRIUM LEVEL... 78%</b>
</p><p>
  <b>BATTERY LEVEL... 27%</b>
</p><p>
  <b>[⚠Low battery⚠]</b>
</p><p>&gt;Low Thirium detected: Charging time will be longer</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Full charge: 9HRS20MIN</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Initiate Stasis Sequence</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Set Timer: 9HRS20MIN. . .</span>
</p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Powering down. . .</span>
</p><p>
  <span>&gt;Playing recorded messages...</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> {'Sleep tight, Son. See you tomorrow.'}</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> {'Goodnight Connor. I'll be right there if you need me.'}</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em><span> {[</span><b><span>♥</span></b> <b><span>(°ᴗ◡ᴗ) \“(ᴗᴥᴗლ)</span></b><span><span><b>づ ♥</b></span></span><span>]}</span></em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span> “<span>What about you, Connor?” Clint turned to the android after an annoyingly long back and forth. They'd never agree to anything before the end of the week at this rate, and surely Connor might know some movies, right? Or would his movies be different than theirs, since he came from a parallel universe?</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> <span>But the android had his eyes closed and his head light cycling slowly; He'd gone back to 'sleep'.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Oh shit, I hope I didn't wake him up again.” They stared in silence for a few seconds, but it seemed like the android wouldn't react. “Well, I guess Terminator is out of the question, huh?” </span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Seriously, Clint, will you shut up about Terminator,” Sam the ungrateful rolled his eyes. </span></span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “<span>How about watching Wall-E,” Everyone turned to Natasha, already munching on her bowl of popcorn and watching the back and forth with fake disinterest. “What, you want a robot movie, and we want a cute movie. Let's watch Wall-E.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>When did we say we wanted a cute movie though,” Clint asked, because when did that come up? Instead of an answer, he received another delicious projectile, from Nat this time. He caught it just as flawlessly as the first; This one was caramel. Yum.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>I'm okay with Wall-E, it's a great movie,” Bruce said, obnoxiously sipping on his obnoxious tea.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>What's Wall-E.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Oh, it's been recommended for my watch-list,” Captain depression-era piped up, “I've been told it's a very well-executed modern fable and-”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Okay, let's watch it then,” Tony cut the Cap's rambling short.</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>What is it.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Don't be so impatient, you'll see. Jarvis, put Wall-E on.”</span></span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “<span>That evil wheel is evil.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>It's not evil, Clint, it's just doing its job, it doesn't know any better.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>But it doesn't want the humans to go home!”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>It doesn't want anything, it's following its program.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <span> “<span>Jarvis would never.”</span></span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> “Correct, sir, as I was not programmed for the same purposes.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Clint wasn't crying. The lil robot losing all his memories after fighting against that evil wheel overlord definitely didn't make him cry at all. The cool lady-bot's desperation to fix him didn't make him cry at all! His eyes were just sweating okay? The atmosphere could get very warm with three super soldiers in the room, and buried under a dog. And he was probably catching a cold, sniffling like this. Lucky eventually raised his head to lick his damp face dutifully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Thanks, buddy,” he managed to say before another sniffle stopped him. “Don't worry, Wall-E'll be okay, I swear,” he whispered to reassure his buddy, hugging him to make sure he knew he wasn't alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Is that what happened to Connor,” Bucky talked for the first time since the beginning of the movie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Wh- What d'you mean?” Sam asked after a beat of silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “He got broken and now he's a robot again.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Huh. Holy shit, Clint thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Huh. Holy shit,” Clint said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Yeah, that's-” Tony said. “I guess that's pretty much it.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. New day in a new world</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span> At the end of the movie, the group scattered, but not before Tony gave out some modified widow bites to Natasha, who'd keep an eye on the android for the night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I made them weaker so it will only slow him down for a bit, hopefully long enough to reason with him.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span> She put them into reaching range and settled for the night. Keeping an eye on her surroundings was a speciality of hers, and she had an earpiece connected to Jarvis just in case she wouldn't notice him waking up. Like that would happen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> But nothing happened, and the android 'slept' through the night and well into the morning. Steve and Barnes had already made their appearance at exactly ten to five to grab breakfast, then headed to the training range for their morning run. If it was only Steve, he'd gone out for his run, but Barnes wasn't at that stage yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Clint had zombied his way in not long after that, and he'd stopped in front of the coffee maker to watch it do its job for a good twenty minutes. Not sleeping was a common symptom of superhero-ing. And she knew Clint still struggled with what Loki had made him do two years ago. He was better, but sleeping had never been one of his strong suits anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Tony might have passed out in his lab by then; Natasha could ask Jarvis, but then again she wasn't his babysitter and she much preferred guessing from Pepper's mood when she passed by than just ask for the answer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Peter... Was a wild card; Though it was Saturday so he'd normally sleep in, this time he had a friend, so there was no telling when they'd get there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Last but not least, Bruce and Sam usually arrived at the same time; Sam from his morning run, shorter and a lot less gruelling than the two other super soldiers', and Bruce from his morning yoga session. Then once there, Sam would go for the cupboards to make breakfast, and Bruce would trudge to the kettle. According to Natasha's internal clock, they were due in three, two, one...</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Hey,” Sam predictably greeted as the elevator's doors opened. Good work, internal clock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Sam's cooking smells started wafting in their direction into Clint's third cartoon episode and halfway into his second coffee jug, the sweet vanilla scents almost waking him from his trance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Natasha certainly was awake; Steve and Barnes would get there any minute now. The window of opportunity would be short this morning. She almost considered getting up to 'help' Sam, but then again, she was warmly burrowed under Clint's corpse and her own fleece blanket. What should she do...</span>
</p><p>
  <span> The choice faded from her immediate thoughts when she saw the android open his eyes. He stared straight ahead without moving for a full minute, the LED on his temple blinking erratically between red and yellow. It didn't look like he was going to do anything unexpected this time, but she had a hand on a widow bite anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She directed her attention to the TV, keeping the android in her peripheral. And from the unusual silence in the room, she was pretty sure everyone else was pretending not to have seen he'd waken up either. When the red disappeared from his light, he slowly turned his head toward the TV, doing nothing else but... Watch the cartoon? It certainly looked like it anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> The rest of the team trickled around the room, some sitting at the dining table and the others on the couches and armchairs. She could hear the fake nonchalant discussion at the table behind her, between Sam and Bruce; An empty debate to determine the superiority of herbal tea against other kinds of infusions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She could sense the tension around the room, that pre-mission anticipation, telling them shit would hit the fan very soon; They'd all learned to navigate through it and make the better of it. She could literally feel Clint trying not to vibrate out of his skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> But the cartoon ended, another began, and the android kept watching the TV, still as a statue. His LED spun a placid blue now, and if Stark's observations were anything to go by, this meant he was okay. Who'd break the peace?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Peter was buzzing; He knew, of course, that Ned more sleep than him, his friend was a regular human after all. But Peter also couldn't wait to go back to see Connor. Hopefully, he'd be awake by then, and calmer than the day before, and maybe they could talk about stuff. Also, he was getting hungry by the minute, and debated the option to leave Ned to sleep and let Jarvis lead him upstairs when he woke up. That was an option, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Before he could make his mind up, the familiar goosebumps of his spider-sense put him on high alert; Time slowed down and each of his senses sharpened to prepare for the incoming danger. But what danger could there be in The Avengers Tower? The Avengers Assemble alarm started ringing before he could ask Jarvis what was going on; The volume wasn't horrible enough to hurt his ears thankfully, but it did wake Ned up.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> “Mister Parker, as per your arrangements with Sir, you are not authorised to take part in this mission, as it is a foreign assignment.”</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <span> Peter's hype faded as quickly as it had come, but well... Ned was still there, and he couldn't very well leave him alone, right? </span>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>“Sir has however asked that you keep an eye on the newcomer in the meantime. If you will go by his laboratory, he will be equipping you with modified widow bites for yours and your friend's safety.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span> “Ah shit!” Oh, fuck, he shouldn't be swearing. Okay, he'd have loved to go on an Avengers mission, but keeping an eye on Connor was just as exciting! “Yeah! Okay, tell him I'm coming!” He turned to Ned, sure that his friend would be just as excited. But Ned didn't seem that rejoiced; In fact, he looked mildly concerned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Right, Ned met Connor during that flashback of his; Peter would have been on guard as well if he hadn't talked to the android beforehand. And maybe it was the fact he didn't look much older than him, or the way he acted like a nervous mess, or the time Peter spent hanging around mister Barnes, but he couldn't bring himself to be wary. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Would you give Connor another chance?” Peter asked his friend; He would understand if he didn't want to, but also, this was an android for a parallel future; No way he'd let his friend go without insisting a bit. “I won't let you get hurt, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> They went to the lab, where mister Stark slid them both a handful of widow bites while getting ready for departure; Last minute fine-tuning of his suit, downloading intel and let calculations and probabilities of success and best course of action for the mission. When they left, mister Stark was putting his suit on, and Peter didn't have the heart to tear Ned away from the show.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Finally, when the lab fell silent, he led Ned out by the elbow, and took the opportunity of the elevator ride to ask Jarvis about his own assignment. Just to be safe.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span> “Connor has not moved from his seat and has expressed minimal interest during the 'Assembling'. The alarm itself seems to have agitated him, but an explanation from Doctor Banner appears to have calmed him down.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span> Jarvis' rundown helped Ned settle a bit before they reached the common floor, but he still hid behind Peter while they made their way toward the android; Connor was... Seemed to be watching the cartoons, though it was hard to determine if he wasn't just looking that way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Hey, Connor,” Peter said, sounding a bit tentative even to himself. The android's attention snapped his way, his eyes locking on Peter's waving hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Good morning, mister Parker, may I help you in any way?” He said, sounding even more of a machine than the day before. In comparison, Jarvis sounded almost human. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Nah, we're good, but thanks.” Connor blinked, and then turned back to the TV. Ned shared a questioning glance with Peter which made them both shrug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> They retreated to the kitchen corner to make themselves breakfast, before coming back to the couches, wisely deciding to stay some distance away. Not that Peter was scared, but he prefered to have some space to react in case he needed to. And if his experience with Bucky was anything to go by, he was pretty sure Connor himself might appreciate the space as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “So, you like cartoons, Connor?” Peter asked after a few minutes of silence. Not that the wait was necessarily killing him, but there was an android from a different dimension right there! How was he supposed to just sit and say nothing? Connor turned his head toward them, his attention clearly on Peter even though he was looking at the carpet at their feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Although I am currently unable to appreciate anything, I have previously enjoyed watching them,” came the answer, factual and disinterested. Peter wasn't sure which he liked better: Sure he was calm right now, but he looked and sounded lifeless. But then again the alternative was panic and terror, so...</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Previously- You mean when you were deviant?” Ned asked, unable to stay silent. The android nodded dutifully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Peter wanted to ask so many more questions, but yesterday's events proved they had to tread as carefully around him as they'd had to with Bucky at one point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “How did the android revolution happen?” There was a full five seconds where nothing happened, and Peter dared to think maybe that question was an acceptable one. But then Connor's LED started spinning red; Shit, that wasn't good. The rest of him seemed locked in place completely, like a real-life video freeze-frame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, it's okay!” Peter amended, but not quickly enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Mh-” Connor started, his voice wavering and full of static like the day before. “Markus. He- He led the androids of- Of Jericho in a peaceful protest. He- Gained the approval of the public opinion, which forced the president to grant androids their freedom.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span> That didn't sound too bad. So why did he still look like he might lose it again? Peter needed to steer the conversation away before Ned could ask anything more. Quick, Peter, think!</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Do you like Star wars?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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